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Reprinted  from  The  Scottish  Geographical  Magazine,  vol.  xxvii.,  August  1911. 


GOLD  AND  SILVER   MINING   AND  REDUCTION   PROCESSES 
AS  RESPONSES  TO  GEOGRAPHIC  CONDITIONS.1 

By  GEORGE  D.  HUBB^RD,  Oberlin  College,  Oberlin,  Ohio,  U.S.A. 

GOLD  and  silver  receive  different  methods  of  treatment  varying  with 
their  occurrence  and  association.     All  through  the  story  of  their  mining 

1  This  paper  is  a  portion  of  a  thesis  presented  as  a  part  of  the  requirement  for  the  Ph.D. 
degree  in  Geography  at  Cornell  University.  See  this  Magazine,  1910,  pp.  449-466 ;  Bull. 
Amerr.  Geog.  Soc.  1910,  pp.  594-602,  and  a  later  number ;  and  Bull.  Geog.  Soc.  Phil.  1911, 
pp.  1-22,  for  other  parts.  Special  thanks  are  given  to  Professors  R.  S.  Tarr,  W.  F. 
Willcox,  and  H.  Ries  of  Cornell  for  criticism  and  suggestion  throughout  the  whole  work. 

255956 


418  SCOTTISH   GEOGRAPHICAL   MAGAZINE. 

in  the  West,  the  responses  and  adaptations  to  conditions  have  brought 
changes  in  methods  of  mining  and  handling,  and  have  developed 
mechanical  and  technical  skill  and  inventive  genius. 

GOLD. 

Placers. — In  most  localities  in  the  Western  U.S.A.  and  Alaska,  this 
metal  was  first  discovered  in  gravels  and  sands  in  or  near  stream-beds 
whither  the  stream*  had  carried  it  from  nearer  their  head -waters. 
There  they  found  itXn  fragments  formed  by  the  disintegration  of 
country  rock  containing  gold  in  veins  and  ore  bodies.  As  the  rock 
was  carried  down  stream  it  was  sorted,  and  much  of  the  lighter  and 
more  destructible  fragments  was  swept  entirely  away,  while  what 
remained  contained  most  of  the  gold.  The  waste  left  along  the  stream- 
bed  was  made  up  of  rounded  gravel,  sand,  and  the  fine  pieces  of  gold, 
and  was  deposited  more  or  less  uniformly.  Such  auriferous  deposits 
are  called  placers,  and  were  very  rich  in  the  gulches  of  the  Sierras  and 
common  all  through  the  mountains.  Because  of  the  ease  of  detecting 
the  metal  in  them  they  were  the  first  forms  of  gold  to  attract 
attention.  The  process  of  sorting  out  barren  rock-waste  and  concen- 
trating the  gold  in  a  much  smaller  quantity  of  earth  has  been  of 
inestimable  value  to  man.  He  takes  up  the  work  where  Nature  left 
off,  and  by  further  concentration  eliminates  all  but  the  gold. 

The  simplest  and  cheapest  method  of  mining  placer  gold  is  that  of 
washing  the  auriferous  gravels  in  a  pan  or  even  with  a  shovel  or  in  a 
short  sluice,  with  water  to  remove  the  rock  fragments  and  thus  to 
separate  the  gold,  which,  by  virtue  of  its  greater  specific  gravity, 
remains  in  the  pan  or  behind  cleats  on  the  bottom  of  the  sluice.  This 
method  was  used  because  it  was  simple  and  effective  in  the  rich, 
unconsolidated  placers,  and  because  its  apparatus  was  at  hand  or  quickly 
made.  Time  in  those  days  was  gold.  Its  use  continued  because  it 
was  so  effective  in  the  high-grade  gravels,  and  because  complicated 
apparatus  was  not  obtainable  and  was  no  more  effective.  Apparatus 
that  would  get  the  most  gold  in  the  shortest  time  and  in  the  easiest 
way  was  the  kind  used.  Bancroft1  explains  that  these  methods 
continued  in  California  because  the  abundance  and  richness  of  the 
deposits  lasted,  and  because  miners  were  relatively  few.  The  same 
law  has  held  in  many  placer  deposits  outside  of  that  State.  Owing  to 
these  factors,  when  the  amount  of  gold  obtained  in  one  gulch  became 
too  small,  it  was  cheapest  to  move  to  a  new,  unoccupied  one  and 
continue  the  use  of  the  simple  machine.  But  because  the  continuous 
influx  of  men,  attracted  by  the  gold  and  the  opportunities  that  gold- 
mining  presented,  so  increased  the  competition ;  and  because  the  crude 
but  rapid  mining  so  soon  compassed  the  richest  beds,  less  remunerative 
gravels  had  to  be  worked,  and  improved  methods  devised  to  recover 
more  perfectly,  and  at  a  single  washing,  the  valuable  contents  of  the 
earth.  The  above  simple  processes,  used  at  first,  required  little  or  no 

i  Bancroft,  H.  H.,  Hist,  of  Calif.,  vol.  vi.  p.  409. 


GOLD    AND    SILVER   MINING   AND    REDUCTION    PROCESSES.          419 

co-operation,  and  hence  tended  to  develop  independence  of  work  and 
thought. 

The  less  remunerative  gravels  were  simply  bars,  or  deserted  stream- 
beds,  which,  owing  to  less  favourable  conditions  for  deposition,  contained 
a  lower  percentage  of  gold ;  or  else  they  were  deeper  down  and 
required  more  labour  and  expense  for  the  same  return.  Under  the 
impulse  of  these  new  conditions,  and  in  order  to  cheapen  the  process, 
a  long  sluice  with  more  cleats  to  catch  the  gold,  called  a  long-torn, 
also  a  hand  rocker  similar  to  an  old-fashioned  child's  cradle  with  cleats 
across  the  bottom,  were  used.  These  machines,  called  for  by  the 
poorer  gravels,  required  two  to  four  men  to  work  in  a  squad,  but  made 
it  possible  for  them  to  produce  about  the  same  values  as  if  working 
each  for  himself  in  better  gravels.  Royce l  shows  that  the  long-torn 
or  long  sluice  mining  meant  increased  responsibilities  of  many  sorts, 
and  so  in  the  end  made  for  good  order.  It  also  had  a  part  in 
developing  that  social  compact  whose  factors  were  called  "pards," 
because  of  their  partnership  work  with  the  machine.  Then  as  the 
business  was  extended,  longer  board  sluices,  and  finally,  because  the 
boards  wore  out  too  fast,  long  rock-floored  ditches  came  into  use, 
requiring  a  larger  squad,  and  hence  demanding  a  larger  company  of 
profit-sharers  or  the  employment  of  wage-earners. 

More  water  was  needed  with  these  larger  machines  used  in  working 
lower-grade  gravels.  When  it  was  near,  little  expense  arose  even  in 
the  use  of  the  more  improved  methods ;  but  if  the  water-supply  was 
insufficient  or  not  permanent,  capital  and  more  costly  works  were 
necessary.  In  the  first  place,  ditches  or  flumes  were  made  to  lead  the 
water  from  external  sources  to  points  where  it  was  needed.  In  the  second, 
as  much  as  possible  had  to  be  made  of  the  water  that  was  near,  and  it 
had  to  be  so  used  that  it  could  not  destroy  the  works  after  storms. 
This  co-operation  and  the  more  permanent  nature  of  the  plant  for  water 
conveyance,  gave  more  permanence  to  camps,  just  as  have  river-bed 
mining  and  hydraulicking  in  other  places.2 

From  the  washing  of  the  sand  in  marginal  sand-bars  to  that  of  the 
gravel  of  the  stream-bed  was  only  a  step.  In  order  to  reach  the  latter, 
the  water  had  to  be  crowded  off  by  a  wing  dam  and  a  portion  of 
the  bed  exposed.  Then  to  get  the  entire  river  bottom  the  whole 
stream  was  diverted,  and,  to  avoid  the  expense  of  dam  construction, 
dredging  with  simple  machines  was  introduced  from  New  Zealand, 
where  it  had  originated 3  and  found  rather  general  use.  The  dredging 
machinery,  placed  on  a  boat,  raised  the  gravels  from  the  bottom, 
washed  them,  recovering  the  gold,  and  returned  them  either  to  the 
water  or  to  the  land  in  the  rear  of  the  machine.  A  dredge  boat  was 
often  launched  in  the  water  in  an  artificial  pool  made  by  excavating  a 
hole  in  the  bed  of  river  alluvium,  and  the  boat  and  pool  advanced 
by  digging  gravel  out  in  front  and  piling  it  in  behind  the  machine. 

1  Royce,  Josiah,  California  ;  in  Amer.  Commonwealth  Series,  1886,  p.  310. 

2  Royce,  loc.  cit. ,  p.  312. 

3  Twelfth  Census  (1900),  Mines  and  Quan-ies:  Gold  and  Silver,  p.  573. 


420  SCOTTISH   GEOGRAPHICAL   MAGAZINE. 

Owing  to  ease  of  handling  the  gravel,  this  method  was  capable  of 
working  deposits  of  very  low  grade. 

Back  from  the  stream,  and  usually  a  little  above,  occurred  the 
bench  gravels;  and  when  these  were  found  to  contain  ore,  specially 
adapted  methods  arose  to  win  it  from  them.  Water  was  led  out  of 
the  stream  above  the  benches  by  a  wing  dam  and  conducted  to  the 
place  in  a  ditch  with  less  fall  than  had  the  stream.  Then  the  washing 
began  in  rockers  and  long-toms.  The  workmen  soon  learned  where 
to  find  the  richest  streaks  in  these  benches  or  terraces  and  finally 
tunnelled  for  them.  In 'Alaska,  where  the  benches  are  sometimes  of 
glacial  origin,  the  richest  streaks  are  differently  distributed,1  and 
required  different  treatment.  Owing  to  climatic  conditions,  the  gravels 
here  are  frozen  most  of  the  year,  and  must  be  thawed  to  be  washed. 
At  first  they  were  thawed  by  building  fires  on  them,  but  now  this  is 
usually  done  by  driving  pipes  into  them  and  then  forcing  in  steam. 
Shafts  and  horizontal  tunnels  along  rich  leads  are  thus  made.2  Because 
these  deposits  are  in  a  land  of  continuous  frost,  tunnels  need  no  timber- 
ing, and  shafts  no  pumps. 

From  stream  gravels  to  beach  sands  was  a  short  step,  and  in 
California  many  devices  for  working  the  latter  have  been  tried  and 
left  to  decay.3  The  difficulties  are  lack  of  fall  for  sluices,  and,  some- 
times, lack  of  water.  In  California  the  Oregon  torn,  a  short  sluice, 
has  been  adopted.  At  Nome  lack  of  fall  declared  against  all  sluices, 
and  the  surf  against  dredging.  Eockers  were  used  almost  exclusively. 

Still  another  set  of  conditions,  the  deposits  of  arid  lands,  has  given 
rise  to  the  process  known  as  dry-washing  or  dry-blowing.  In  New 
Mexico4  many  unsuccessful  attempts  to  utilise  the  wind  have  been 
made;  and  now  a  screen  set  obliquely  and  ribbed  with  riffles  is 
supplied  with  placer  material,  and  air  is  blown  through  the  screen 
from  behind  to  remove  fine  dirt.  Coarse  material  is  swept  off  with 
the  hand,  while  the  gold  collects  above  the  riffles.  Owing  to  the 
absence  of  water  for  ordinary  washing,  many  varieties  of  dry-blowing 
have  been  used  in  Southern  California,6  Northern  Mexico,6  and  in 
Australia,7  some  of  which  were  borrowed  from  the  natives  and  some 
devised  by  the  foreign  miners  ;  but  all  that  were  successful  were  adjusted 
to  the  highly  specialised  conditions  of  no  water,  dry  dirt,  suitable 
winds,  and  cheap  labour. 

All  the  above  processes  were  used  because  of  a  special  mode  of 
occurrence  of  the  gold — in  loose,  easily  worked  placers — and  were  of 
service  only  in  such  deposits.  All  were  adapted  to  the  special  conditions 


1  Kemp,  J.  F.,  Ore  Deposits,  1900,  p.  393.     U.S.G.S.  Professional  Paper  15,  pp.  52, 
54  ;  Mines  and  Minerals,  1900,  p.  492. 

2  U.S.G.S.  Bull.  225,  52-53. 

3  Scientific  American  Supplement,  1900,  p.  20,381. 

4  Mines  and  Minerals,  1899,  pp.  397-8. 

5  Bowie,  A.  J.,  Hydraulic  Mining  in  California,  p.  79. 

6  Kng.  and  Min.  Journ.  (1897),  vol.  Ixiii.  pp.  257-8. 

7  Am.  Inst.  Min.  Eng.  Trans.  1898,  vol.  xxviii.  p.  490  f.  ;  also  Eng.  and  Min.  Journ. 
vol.  Ixv.  (1899),  p.  37. 


GOLD   AND    SILVER    MINING   AND    REDUCTION   PROCESSES.          421 

in  which  the  gold  was  found.  Some  had  been  used,  in  principle  at  least, 
in  the  foreign  countries  from  whence  many  of  the  miners  had  come ;  but 
their  introduction  and  improvement  in  the  West  was  a  direct  response 
to  the  influence  of  the  geographic  conditions  in  which  the  gold  occurred, 
and  under  which  the  men  were  obliged  to  work. 

Amalgamation. — A  modification  of  several  of  the  above  methods 
greatly  raised  their  efficiency.  Mercury  had  been  discovered  in  California 
five  years  prior  to  the  gold  discoveries,1  so  that  its  use  was  possible  as 
soon  as  conditions  made  it  necessary  ;  and  now  small  quantities  were  put 
behind  the  riffles  in  the  sluices  to  form  an  amalgam  with  the  gold  and 
thus  recover  many  minute  fragments  formerly  lost.  Amalgamation 
processes  had  been  used  in  Potosi,  South  America,  near  where  mercury 
was  mined,  since  1571  ;  also  to  some  extent  in  Mexico,  although  the 
long  distance  to  its  source,  Huancavelica  or  Spain,  was  almost  prohibitive. 
By  taking  advantage  of  the  presence  of  mercury,  an  advantage  due  to 
the  geographic  distribution  of  mercury,  the  South  American  miners  and, 
later,  those  of  California  greatly  increased  their  output  and  cheapened 
their  processes.  In  the  absence  of  mercury  Mexico  must  have  mined  in 
the  old  wasteful  way  or  have  paid  heavily  for  imported  mercury. 

Hydraulicking. —  Men  continued  to  come  into  the  gulches  and 
valleys,  and  the  gravels  and  sands  were  becoming  exhausted;  hence 
prospectors  and  miners  pushed  farther  up  the  streams  to  find  new  or 
better  deposits,  and,  in  1851,  discovered  the  fossil  stream-beds  high  up 
on  table  mountains.  The  gravels  and  sands  of  these  beds  were  stream- 
laid  ages  ago,  and  then  overlaid  with  lava.  Subsequent  erosion  had  cut 
these  deposits — lava,  gravel,  and  sand — in  two  and  removed  a  part  of 
the  gold-bearing  beds,  and  after  sorting  and  rewashing  the  gravels,  and 
concentrating  the  gold,  transferred  them  to  the  present  valley  floors.  The 
remaining  portions  were  rich  and  extensive,  but  could  not  be  worked  in 
the  ordinary  ways.  The  lava  cover  prevented  beginning  at  the  top. 
Most  of  the  gold  was  at  the  bottom  of  the  channels,  and  to  get  it  required 
either  moving  the  entire  filling,  or  the  construction  of  tunnels  and  the 
removal  of  the  pay  gravel.  Tunnelling  was  expensive  because  continuous 
timbering  was  necessary.  Then  no  water  was  near  for  washing.  To 
develop  these  supplies  of  gold  required  capital  and  labour,  and  here  began 
the  first  extensive  systematic  hired  mining.2  An  adaptation  of  the  long- 
torn  sluicing  with  men  shovelling  gravel  into  the  feed  boxes  was  the  initial 
device.  In  1852,  a  man  desirous  of  economising  labour  made  a  raw- 
hide hose  and  with  water  under  head  washed  gravel  into  his  sluice.  His 
neighbours  followed,  and  then  improved  by  using  first  canvas  hose,  stove 
pipe,  sheet-iron,  and  then  heavy  wrought-iron  flumes,  thirty  inches  in 
diameter  and  furnished  with  an  elaborate  nozzle.  Some  of  these  flumes  were 
thousands  of  feet  long,3  and  being  connected  with  ditches  or  tunnels  10-100 
miles  long,4  led  water  in  large  quantities  from  some  higher  level,  often 
from  beyond  a  divide,  down  to  the  partially  cemented  gravels  with  such 


1  Hubbard,  G.  D.,  Bull.  Geog.  Soc.  Phil,  (1911),  vol.  ix.  p.  7. 

2  Bowie,  A.  J.,  Hydraulic  Mining  in  California  (1885),  p.  48. 

3  Bowie,  A.  J.,  loc.  cit.  p.  49  f.          4  Eissler,  Manuel,  Metallurgy  of  Gold  (1900),  p.  51. 


422  SCOTTISH    GEOGRAPHICAL    MAGAZINE. 

force  as  to  tear  them  down  and  break  them  to  pieces  and  then  wash  them 
into  long  sluices.  Here  their  gold  contents  were  sorted  and  caught  in 
mercury  behind  the  riffles.  Sometimes  the  gravel  was  so  firmly  cemented 
that  dynamite  was  exploded  to  aid  the  water  in  breaking  it  down.  This 
new,  elaborate  process,  called  hydraulicking,  could  not  be  used  success- 
fully in  other  kinds  of  deposits,  but  was  ultimately  closely  adapted  to  the 
requirements  of  these  ancient  gravels.  Thus  the  cost  of  handling  the 
gravel  was  reduced  from  dollars  per  cubic  yard  in  the  rockers  of  1848 
and  1849,  first  to  $.35  in  the  long  sluices,  and  then  to  half  a  cent  in  the 
hydraulicking  process.  Those  who  had  resisted  the  temptation  to  spend 
all  as  fast  as  it  was  acquired  usually  became  the  capitalists  in  this  new 
form  of  co-operation,  while  those  who  had  wasted  all,  or  who  had  been 
the  victims  of  hard  luck,  became  the  labourers  or  withdrew  to  other 
occupations.1 

Placers  of  Sierras  and  Rockies  Contrasted. — Much  the  larger  proportion  of 
the  placer-mining  in  the  West  per  unit  area  has  been  in  California.  The 
Cretaceous  rocks  of  the  Sierras  with  their  ledges  of  free  milling  ores, 
disintegrated  into  good  placers  with  gold  of  a  high  degree  of  purity  ;  but 
the  propylitic  rocks  of  the  Rockies  with  their  complex  associations  have 
not  furnished  so  much  placer  gold  nor  such  good  quality  as  that  in 
California.  This  geographic  distribution  of  placers  and  their  parent  rock 
has  had  a  beneficent  influence  on  the  development  of  the  mining  industry 
of  the  West.  The  native  gold  or  gold  in  simple  associations  was  found 
first,  and  where  it  could  be  easily  worked,  hence  the  industry  flourished 
from  the  start.  Had  the  two  kinds  of  bed-rock  deposits  exchanged 
places,  it  would  not  have  been  so  easy  to  find  the  first  placers ;  and  if 
the  Eastern  placers  had  been  found  first,  they  would  hardly  have  been 
able  to  furnish  capital  for  the  later  development  of  veins  and  lodes. 
And  had  the  Sierra  kind  occurred  in  Western  Colorado  and  Idaho,  many 
of  the  hardships  incident  to  reaching  and  developing  the  region  would 
have  been  increased.  Neither  men  nor  provisions  could  have  reached 
the  place  by  sea.  The  long  land  journey  from  the  East  would  remain, 
although  much  shortened,  but  there  would  have  been  added  to  the  sea 
route  a  long  difficult  land  route,  from  the  coast  far  inland. 

Vein  Mining. — As  gravels  became  exhausted,  prospectors,  followed 
by  miners,  pushed  on  up  the  ravines  and  discovered  the  quartz  veins 
from  which  the  gravel  had  come ;  and  then  there  arose  a  different  kind 
of  mining.  In  these  auriferous  ledges  as  found  in  most  of  the  Western 
States  and  even  in  the  Southern  Appalachians,  the  gold  was  intimately 
associated  with  other  minerals,  and  the  whole  mass  had  to  be  broken  out 
of  the  country  rock  and  crushed  before  the  precious  metal  could  really 
be  claimed.  This  required  time,  expensive  machinery,  mechanical  skill, 
and  withal  a  deal  of  adjustment  to  the  conditions  in  order  to  operate  the 
mines  successfully.  But,  as  shown  above,  capital  was  not  wanting,  and 
experiments  began.  By  a  normal  process  of  selection  a  method  of  mining 
and  reduction  was  perfected,  but  not  until  many  fortunes  had  become 
exhausted  and  companies  dissolved.  Beside  the  exhaustion  of  the  richer 

1  Bancroft,  H.  H.,  Hist,  of  Calif.,  vol.  vi.  pp.  416,  418. 


GOLD   AND   SILVEE   MINING   AND   REDUCTION   PROCESSES.          423 

placers,  another  factor  aided  in  the  development  of  the  quartz-mining. 
Hydraulic  mining,  discussed  above,  had  been  entered  into  by  multitudes. 
By  1858,  in  California  alone,  six  thousand  miles  of  water-ditches  had 
been  built.  About  this  time  the  waste  from  hydraulicking  began  to 
interfere  with  agricultural  interests,  and  by  1884  the  interference  had 
advanced  to  such  an  extent  that  prohibitive  legislation  checked  its  further 
operations,1  and  capital  and  enthusiasm  turned  to  quartz-mining,  thus 
still  more  increasing  the  latter  form  which  had  now  become  well 
developed. 

In  the  early  days  of  quartz-mining  the  ore  was  crushed  by  stamps 
or  rollers,  and  the  rock  flour  washed  as  in  the  placer  works.  This  pro- 
cess in  its  most  perfect  state  did  not  save  all  the  gold,  so  others  were 
devised  to  meet  the  difficult  combinations  presented  by  the  ores.  A 
method  known  as  the  chlorination  process  has  now  come  to  be  used 
extensively.  The  crushed  ore  before  or  after  concentration,  and  some- 
times after  roasting,  is  treated  with  chlorine  gas,  which  forms  chloride  of 
gold,  soluble  in  water  and  removed  by  washing.  From  this  solution  the 
gold  is  easily  recovered  by  precipitation  with  iron  sulphate.  Stamp  mills 
customarily  accompany  chlorination  plants,  and  smelting  works  are  some- 
times associated  to  handle  special  ores.  This  process  is  especially  adapted 
to  rather  high-grade  ores  and  those  practically  free  from  iron.  A  second 
chemical  method  probably  more  used  than  the  above  is  known-  as  the 
cyanide  process,  and  is  most  serviceable  in  the  treatment  of  low-grade 
ores.  It  finds  its  special  field  in  the  reduction  of  ore  carrying  iron  and 
copper  sulphides.  The  crushed  ore  in  a  "  slime  "  condition  is  treated 
with  a  strong  solution  of  potassium  cyanide,  usually  strongly  aerated,  and 
the  gold  is  thus  brought  into  solution  and  separated  from  its  refractory 
native  compounds.  Furnaces  often  follow  the  cyanide  tanks,  where  with 
suitable  fluxes  the  reduction  to  metallic  gold  of  specially  rebellious  ores, 
by  means  of  chemical  reactions  requiring  heat,  is  effected.  Had  the  ore 
occurred  in  small  or  more  scattered  deposits,  even  these  processes  would 
probably  fail  to  extract  the  metal  economically;  but  since  large  quantities  of 
ore,  even  though  of  low  grade,  can  be  obtained  within  a  limited  area  and  be 
treated  simultaneously,  the  expensive  plant  with  its  trained  men,  technical 
skill,  valuable  apparatus,  altogether  a  costly  equipment,  can  be  operated 
at  a  profit.  Illustrations  of  the  failure  of  extensive  plants  to  remain  in 
operation  are  common ;  and  usually  they  go  out  of  business  because  the 
deposits  are  not  as  large  as  supposed,  or  because  their  contents  are  found 
to  change  character  in  the  course  of  development,  or  because  some 
resource,  water,  fuel  or  timber,  has  failed. 

As  already  shown,  the  geographic  conditions  favoured  the  great 
development  of  placer-mining  in  the  early  days  and  called  for  little 
development  of  bed-rock  ores.  Table  I.  shows  that  there  has  occurred  a 
great  change  since  1880  in  the  relative  importance  of  quartz  and  gravel 
as  sources  of  gold.  In  the  early  days  of  California  and  of  most  of  the 
other  States  and  Territories,  including  the  Carolinas,  Georgia,  and  even 
Alaska,  a  very  large  percentage  of  the  metal  came  from  gravels.  No 

1  Hubbard,  G.  D.,  BuU.  Geog.  Soc.  Pkil.,  vol.  ix.  (1911),  pp.  14-15. 


424 


SCOTTISH   GEOGRAPHICAL   MAGAZINE. 


reliable  statistics  on  this  point  dating  back  farther  than  1880  have  been 
found.  In  1905  only  17  per  cent,  of  the  total  gold  production  came 
from  gravel.  Alaska,  the  youngest  gold  producer,  supplied  over  one-half 
of  that  amount,  and  she  is  also  the  only  one  with  more  than  a  handful  in 
its  total  production  that  recovered  more  metal  from  gravel  than  from 
quartz.  Owing  to  increased  Alaskan  placer-mining  during  1906  and 
1907  the  total  percentage  of  placer  gold  has  gone  up  during  these  two 
years.  Alaska  is  still  in  the  placer  stage  of  her  gold-mining.  If  this 
territory  with  its  relatively  large  placer  production  be  taken  out  of  the 
figures  in  Table  I.,  the  change  in  the  source  of  gold  will  become  much 
more  apparent.  This  change  occurred  partly  because  the  placers  were 
insufficient  to  employ  the  men  who  had  been  attracted  by  them,  partly 
because  the  placers  were  becoming  exhausted,  and  there  was  no  other 
mining  but  quartz  to  which  the  men  might  turn.  The  wealth  accumu- 
lated from  the  early  forms  of  mining  was  ready  to  go  into  the  more 
expensive  and  complex  processes,  and  the  conditions  required  it. 

TABLE  I. — DISTRIBUTION  OF  GOLD  AND  SILVER  AS  TO 
SOURCES  OF  PRODUCTION. 


GOLD  (Fine  Ounces). 

SILVER  (Fine  Ounces). 

Year. 

Quartz. 

Placer. 

Quartz  Ores. 

Lead  Ores  (b). 

Copper  Ores. 

1907 

3,034,609 

1,192,890 

19,038,042 

19,038,449 

14,200,348 

1906 

3,374,639 

1,328,361 

16,792,799 

21,011,464 

19,288,709 

1905 

3,568,724 

697,018 

13,990,008 

25,147,252 

16,964,340 

1904 

3,245,097 

647,383 

15,113,401 

26,973,843 

15,595,556 

1903 

3,062,762 

591,219 

16,835,528 

25,682,882 

13,844,232 

1902 

3,315,717 

597,964    16,988,647 

28,035,620 

12,812,291 

1901 

3,243,248 

609,974    16,064,208 

27,018,344 

14,790,934 

1900 

3,269,794 

597,850    16,496,711 

30,593,763 

13,121,912 

1899 

3,062,286 

450,958    15,861,230 

29,000,609 

11,859,334 

1898 

2,812,579 

372,215    13,716,882 

31,312,676 

10,457^75 

1897 

2,525,387 

390,858    12,233,429(c) 

32,244,341 

11,637,395 

1893 

27,641,100(c) 

24,713,100 

7,645,800 

18801 

l,74l',654 

580,478  (a) 

... 

... 

(a)  Excluding  Alaska  with  288  ounces. 

(b)  Colorado  lead  and  copper  ores,  amounting  to  about  one-half  of  this  item  each  year, 
are  not  divided  but  are  placed  under  lead  together. 

(c)  Quartz  and  free  milling  ores  combined. 

Methods  that  are  used  with  some  kinds  of  ore  are  worthless  in  the 
treatment  of  others,  and  processes  profitable  under  certain  conditions 
would  cease  to  be  remunerative  under  others.  In  each  locality  a  method 
of  extraction  and  reduction  capable  of  handling  the  ore  in  its  mineral 
associations,  and  also  adapted  to  the  conditions  of  water,  fuel,  and  trans- 
portation, must  be  devised.  Because  of  the  relation  of  mining  and 


Twelfth  Census  (1900),  Mines  and  Quarries :  Gold  and  Silver,  p.  547. 


GOLD   AND    SILVER    MINING   AND    REDUCTION    PROCESSES.          425 

reduction  processes  to  the  vicinal  geographic  conditions,  the  latter  may 
seem  in  cases  to  control  the  output ;  and  so  they  do.  But  herein  occurs 
an  excellent  measure  of  the  influence  of  the  metals.  They  are  sometimes 
able  to  combat  and  overcome  very  gigantic  obstacles.  Many  shaft  and 
tunnel  mines  in  California  successfully  met  the  conditions,  because  in  the 
midst  of  timber.  Had  they  with  the  same  gold  values  been  located  in 
places  where  timber  is  so  scarce  as  around  some  working  surface  mines 
in  Arizona,  New  Mexico,  or  Nevada,  the  output  of  the  mines  could  not 
have  borne  the  expense  because  of  their  moderate  values.  But  many 
mines  in  these  more  arid,  forestless  States  are  so  rich  that  they  can 
sustain  the  long  timber  hauls,  the  struggle  (and  often  great  expense)  to 
obtain  water,  the  difficulties  of  costly  transportation,  or  the  flooding  of 
the  mines  with  water,  and  have  prospered  for  years  against  the  heavy 
odds.  The  almost  fabulous  wealth  or  other  special  advantage  of  certain 
districts  has  enabled  them  to  surmount  the  greatest  obstacles  and  to 
produce  enormous  quantities  of  the  precious  metals.  The  Comstock1 
lode  mines  suffered  because  of  excessive  heat  and  of  flooding  with  under- 
ground water,  as  well  as  through  being  in  a  desert  with  nothing  near  that 
was  needed. 

The  Treadwell 2  mines  on  Douglas  Island,  Alaska,  situated  on  a  very 
low-grade  ore  body,  in  high  latitude,  and  one  thousand  miles  from 
Seattle,  are  able  to  run  very  satisfactorily  because  of  abundance  of  water, 
sufficient  water-power  during  the  seven  open  months,  plenty  of  fuel, 
cheap  sea  transportation,  ore  fairly  uniform,  constant  as  depth  increases, 
abundant,  and  easily  gotten  out  of  the  ground  ;  and  again  easily  reduced, 
because  a  large  part  of  the  values  can  be  recovered  by  amalgamation. 
The  average  cost  of  operation  here  for  nine  years  was  $1.73  per  ton,  and 
the  yield  $2.18  per  ton.3  It  is  in  the  ability  of  these  gold  deposits  to 
overcome  such  enormous  difficulties  that  their  influence  is  most  clearly 
manifested. 

Effects  on  Scenery.  —  The  influence  of  some  of  the  above  processes  on 
the  surrounding  features,  landscape,  forest,  and  stream,  is  very  appreci- 
able. Gulches  once  as  beautiful  as  a  picture  have  been  dug  over,  washed 
out  and  refilled  with  debris,  upon  which  vegetation  has  not  yet  obtained 
a  footing.  In  many  places  desolation  is  the  only  word.  Scarred  hill- 
sides and  pillaged  ravines  are  seen  at  almost  every  turn  in  extensive 
mining  regions.  Of  course  gold-mining  is  not  very  different  from  other 
mining  in  this  respect,  but  the  speed  with  which  ends  have  been  reached 
and  destruction  wrought  will  compare  favourably  with  any  other  mining 
operation.  The  early  California  days,  however,4  did  not  witness  damaged 
forests  except  where  these  were  cut  for  building  houses  (rare  structures 
at  first),  because  timber  was  not  needed  to  support  tunnels  and  shafts 
so  long  as  placer-mining  continued ;  but  later  the  axe  worked  havoc, 
gathering  material  to  timber  the  shafts  and  tunnels  in  the  quartz  seams 
and  to  build  mills,  roads,  and  railroads.  The  same  sequence  may  be 

1  U.S.G.S.  Monog.  iv.,  pp.  56  f.,  389 f. 

2  U.S.G.S.  Bull.  225,  pp.  28,  42. 

3  Twelfth  Census  (1900),  Mines  and  Quarries:  Gold  and  Silver. 

4  Bancroft,  H.  H.,  History  of  California,  vol.  vi.  p.  416. 

b 


426  SCOTTISH   GEOGRAPHICAL   MAGAZINE. 

noted  in  many  places  in  other  States.  Where  smelters  producing 
noxious  fumes  are  being  used,  their  influence  on  the  vegetation  is 
appalling.  It  is  stated  l  that  there  are  no  trees  in  Butte  and  Anaconda, 
Montana,  although  formerly  there  were  plenty.  Sulphurous  acid  gas  is 
produced  by  roasting  sulphide  ores,  and  this  gas  is  destructive  to  vegeta- 
tion. It  is  also  a  disinfectant,  killing  disease  germs.  Through  special 
efforts  recently  to  check  the  nuisance,  its  destructiveness  had  been  so 
reduced  that  a  few  small  gardens  and  some  house  plants  are  now 
growing.2 

1  Correspondence  with  H.  V.  Winchell,  April  1905. 

2  Correspondence  with  W.  H.  Weed,  March  1905. 


Reprinted  from  The  Scottish  Geographical  Magazine,  vol.  xxvii..  September  1911. 


GOLD  AND   SILVER    MINING    AND   REDUCTION   PROCESSES 
AS  RESPONSES  TO  GEOGRAPHIC  CONDITIONS 

By  GEORGE  D.  HUBBARD,  Oberlin  College,  Oberlin,  Ohio,  U.S.A. 

( Con  tinned  from  p.  426.) 

SILVER. 

INASMUCH:  as  silver  is  rarely  found  in  gravel  and  never  abundant 
there,  the  amount  of  placer  silver-mining  is  negligibly  small.  For  this 
reason  there  is  little  single-handed  mining.  Although  silver  was  known 
in  California  almost  as  soon  as  gold,  it  was  never  much  worked.  It  was 
found  in  other  States  nearly  as  soon  as  was  the  gold,  and  its  mining 
usually  followed  that  of  gold.  Bancroft 1  thinks  that  silver-mining  was 
largely  prevented  in  California  for  several  decades  because  of  the  abund- 
ance and  accessibility  of  the  richer  metal.  It  has  been  suggested  that 
Califoruians,  having  worked  in  gold  so  long  and  so  successfully,  did  not 
care  to  mine  the  less  noble  metal.  This  may  have  some  weight  even  yet 
with  the  average  Calif ornian.  It  would  certainly  have  had  more  weight 
in  earlier  days.  But  whatever  the  mental  attitude  of  the  California!! 
toward  silver-mining,  it  would  not  interfere  with  others  from  the  East 
conducting  silver-mining  operations  there.  It  is  true,  however,  that 
California's  silver  production  is  very  small  compared  with  that  of  several 
Western  States,  and  there  is  probably  a  good  reason  for  this  in  the 
occurrence  of  the  metal.  Silver  is  usually  obtained  with  other  metals 
which  bear  the  expense  of  mining,  but  in  California,  Shasta,  the  leading 
county,  is  the  only  region  where  metals  other  than  gold  are  extracted 
from  the  silver-mines.  Here  copper  practically  pays  expenses,  and  the 
silver  may  be  counted  as  profit.  In  other  places,  as  far  as  known,  the 
silver  is  alone  or  with  gold,  and  does  not  occur  in  rich  deposits.  It 
may  be  said,  then,  that  the  mining  of  silver  is  not  generally  profitable, 
and  hence  not  carried  on,  in  California,  because  of  its  mode  of  occurrence. 
Deposits  other  than  superficial,  are  the  chief  sources  of  the  metal  in 
the  West,  hence  mining  operations  and  appliances  are  such  as  are  best 
adapted  to  that  kind  of  ore  working.  The  contents  of  the  vein  are 
removed,  crushed  by  stamps  or  rollers,  and  passed  on  to  the  separating 
devices.  If  no  other  metals  occur,  the  silver  is  separated  from  the  waste 
by  amalgamation  or  smelting.  But  the  ore  with  copper  is  smelted  with 
its  gangue  and  then  separated  by  subsequent  chemical  processes.  In  a 
similar  manner  the  separation  from  lead  ores  is  accomplished.  When 
zinc  occurs  the  problem  is  a  difficult  one.  At  Canyon  City  and  Pueblo, 
Colorado,  there  have  recently  been  constructed  plants  for  the  conversion 
of  such  rebellious  ores.  The  process  converts  the  zinc  into  white  oxide 
for  which  there  is  a  strong  Eastern  market.  This  rises  from  the  roasting 
ore  as  a  fume  having  the  appearance  of  white  smoke,  and  is  condensed 
by  cooling,  after  which  the  ore  may  be  treated  for  the  silver  content. 

1  History  of  California,  vol.  vii.  p.  651. 


471          GOLD   AND   SILVER   MINING   AND    REDUCTION    PROCESSES. 

These  silver  reduction  processes  are  all  expensive  and  more  or  less 
involved,  requiring  capital,  labour,  fuel,  apparatus,  and  technical  skill ; 
but  large  quantities  of  ore  render  their  operation  both  possible  and 
economical. 

Special  Types. — Two  or  three  special  types  of  silver  occurrence  and 
associated  reduction  plants  may  well  be  examined  to  discover  the  relation 
of  plant  and  process  to  the  ore  and  its  surroundings.  First  in  order  of 
time  was  the  Comstock  lode,1  whose  development  and  twenty  years  of 
startling  history  began  in  1858,  and  from  which  the  first  silver  in 
Western  United  States  was  taken.  The  metals  in  this  lode  occur  in 
quartz  along  a  contact  of  two  igneous  rocks  where  there  has  been  some 
slipping.  The  lode  is  hundreds  of  feet  broad  in  the  widest  portion, 
while  it  tapers  out  and  divides  before  disappearing  at  the  ends.  Mines 
have  been  located  along  it  for  two  miles.  Nothing  short  of  a  bonanza, 
however,  could  have  survived  the  litigation  and  physical  difficulties  in 
the  way  of  its  development.  A  rocky,  parched,  barren  mountain  slope, 
over  a  mile  above  sea-level,  deserts  all  around,  only  meagre  brooks  in  the 
main  ravines  in  spring,  all  of  which  were  dry  in  summer ;  water  gotten 
only  from  lakes  twenty  miles  distant ;  no  timber  for  buildings  or  mine 
support  within  at  least  as  many  miles,  and  this  all  to  be  hauled  over 
sandy  or  stony  roads,  and  no  fuel  but  scrub  nearer  than  this  distant 
timber ;  roads  cut  and  blasted  through  canyons  and  along  ledges  and 
mountain  precipices,  and  out  over  high  Sierra  passes,  always  snow-filled 
in  winter ;  severe  winters,  deep  snows  and  high  winds ;  no  crops,  and 
very  difficult  and  expensive  transportation  of  food  and  all  supplies  from 
San  Francisco  ;  peculiar,  irregular,  and  unfamiliar  distribution  and  occur- 
rence of  ore  resulting  in  great  loss  in  developing ;  inadequate  laws  and 
regulations,  conflicting  claims  and  confusion  of  titles  leading  to  enormous 
and  ravaging  lawsuits ;  the  mine,  as  it  deepened,  flooded  with  alkaline 
waters,  and  hampered  with  temperatures  of  100°  to  140°  F.  and  great 
humidity, — these  constituted  some  of  the  difficulties.  It  seemed  as  if 
nothing  could  be  accomplished.  But  so  great  was  the  power  of  glamour 
and  the  actual  wealth,  that  many  difficulties  were  overcome,  and  others 
were  borne  while  a  city  sprang  up  on  the  site.  The  population  of  the 
territory  increased  by  immigration,  attracted  by  the  marvellous  reports, 
until  statehood  was  granted  in  1864.  Nothing  else  known  in  that 
barren  region  would  have  called  people  thither.  Not  only  did  the 
development  of  this  great  lode  attract  the  attention  of  miners  and 
scientists,  but  its  output  disturbed  the  world's  monetary  system.'2  When 
its  prime  was  reached  in  1877  and  its  total  production  of  gold  and  silver 
had  mounted  up  to  about  $300,000,000,  its  decline  came  rapidly ;  for  in 
four  years  the  annual  production  fell  from  $36,000,000  to  $1,000,000,* 
then  rose  to  two,  three,  and  even  seven  millions,  but  fell  off  again  through 
the  last  decade  to  less  than  $200,000.  The  cessation  of  operations  at  the 


1  U.S.O.S.  Monogr.  iii.,  pp.    3,   6;    U.S.G.S.  Monogr.    iv.,  pp.   56-76,   86,   190,   203- 
205,  331-3. 

2  Tarr,  R.  S.,  Economic  GeoL,  p.  182  ;  Watson,  D.  K.,  History  of  Amer .  Coinage,  pp.  120- 
238  ;  Ries,  H.,  Econ   GeoL,  pp.  494-6. 

3  Lord,  Eliot,  U.S.G.S.  Monogr.  iv.,  p.  416. 


SCOTTISH   GEOGRAPHICAL   MAGAZINE.  472 

great  Comstock  lode  was  due  to  a  failure  of  the  company  to  master 
certain  geographic  conditions — viz.,  the  mines  filling  with  water  faster 
than  the  ruahinery  was  able  to  pump  it  out,  and  the  encountering  of 
high  temperature.  Thus  the  water  and  the  excessive  heat  made  further 
development  impossible.  The  population  of  the  State  declined  to  a 
point  below  the  statehood  limit,  and  the  region  reverted  to  its  former 
wilderness  condition.  In  this  mine,  some  two  hundred  miles  of  tunnels 
have  been  opened,  and  wide  galleries  where  the  lode  was  wide  and  rich. 
These  tunnels  are  supported  by  timbers,  and  the  galleries  were  literally 
filled  with  blocks  of  wood  and  stone  as  the  ore  was  removed.  All  the 
wood  came  from  the  forests  some  twenty  miles  to  the  west  over  a  barren 
waste  of  sand  and  without  a  railroad.  When  the  mine  was  apparently 
approaching  prosperity,  the  supporting  timbers  caught  fire  and  burned, 
which  necessitated  the  added  expense  of  replacing  them  or  abandoning 
parts  of  the  workings.  Probably  more  has  been  spent  in  the  Comstock 
region  than  the  total  output  of  the  mines  would  replace.  Efforts  are 
now  being  made  to  revive  the  big  mine.  New  pumps  and  new  and 
repaired  machinery  are  increasing  the  yield,  until  in  1901,.  1902,  and 
1903  each  the  production  was  over  $1,000,000.  Since  1903  it  has 
again  fallen  off  to  less  than  8250,000,  but  has  been  gradually  rising  in 
the  last  two  or  three  years. 

Since  the  ore  is  native  silver  and  gold  with  some  argentite,  in  a 
gangue  of  quartz,  stamp  mills  or  other  ore  crushers,  and  adapted  amalga- 
mating pans,  are  all  that  is  necessary  for  its  reduction.  Before  the  end 
of  1861,  companies  to  operate  such  mills  to  the  number  of  eighty -six, 
capitalised  with  an  aggregate  sum  of  over  860,000,000,  had  been 
organised  in  the  region  ;  and  many  others  followed  soon  after.1  The 
mills  were  far  in  excess  of  the  needs  of  the  mines  in  their  best  days,  and 
now  scores  of  them  are  rotting  down  on  their  flimsy  and  too  hastily 
constructed  foundations.  This  enormous  waste  was  due  to  men  under 
the  influence  of  the  glamour  and  the  possibilities  of  the  great  lode  ; 
and  now,  sobered  by  thirty  to  forty  years,  we  look  back  and  wonder  and 
smile  at  their  delusion. 

Leadville,2  Colorado,  forms  a  second  type.  Work  in  this  region 
began  in  a  gold  placer  in  1860,  to  which  miners  rushed  from  many 
quarters,  and  from  which  was  taken  several  million  dollars  worth  of  gold. 
A  flourishing  mining  town,  Oro,  sprang  up ;  but  when  the  gold  became 
exhausted  its  creation,  the  town,  declined.  In  1874  the  lead  carbonate, 
carrying  silver,  a  weather  product  of  the  deeper-lying  sulphides,  was 
recognised  :  and  in  five  or  six  years  its  enormous  development  again  gave 
the  region  a  good  rank  as  a  mining  centre.  The  new  town,  Leadville, 
grew  from  a  few  log-houses,  a  10x12  grocery  store  and  two  saloons,  with 
a  population  of  one  or  two  hundred  in  1877,  to  a  city  of  15,000  with 
$8,000,000  to  830,000,000  assessable  property,  twenty-eight  miles  of 
streets,  waterworks,  gasworks,  schools,  churches,  hospitals,  and  fourteen 
smelters  in  1880.  The  lead  carries  good  values  in  both  gold  and  silver. 

1  Lord,  E.,  loc.  cit.,  p.  126. 

-  C.S.G.S.  Monogr.  xii.,  pp.  1-16,  375-6,  614,  636-47. 


473          GOLD   AND   SILVER   MINING   AND   REDUCTION   PROCESSES. 

The  ore  really  is  an  argentiferous  galena  bearing  native  gold  and,  deeper 
down,  zinc  in  a  gangue  of  barite,  chert,  and  calcite  within  a  vein  along 
a  limestone-porphyry  contact.  Copper,  manganese,  bismuth,  iron,  anti- 
mony, molybdenum,  and  others  have  been  recovered  from  this  hetero- 
geneous deposit ;  but  zinc,  silver,  lead  and  gold,  usually  in  the  order 
named,  are  the  best  payers.1  This  region  contains  a  greater  assortment 
of  metals  and  more  complex  associations  than  almost  any  other  in 
America.  Placer-miners  were  troubled  with  the  lead  carbonate, 
commonly  called  heavy  rock,  in  their  sluices  from  the  start ;  and  their 
process  was  modified  to  avoid  difficulties  and  dispose  of  the  unknown 
rock.  When  its  nature  became  known,  and  the  bed-rock  sources  were 
discovered,  shaft-mining  and  mill  reduction  began.  But  these  carbonate 
and  associated  sulphides  could  not  be  worked  by  crushing  and  amalga- 
mation as  were  the  ores  of  Comstock ;  hence,  smelters  using  the  dolo- 
mitic  limestone  of  the  vicinity  and  the  coke  from  coal-fields  a  few  miles 
distant  were  constructed.  Crushers  were  associated  with  the  furnaces  to 
reduce  the  coarser  pieces  of  ore,  but  their  work  was  only  a  minor  part  of 
the  process. 

This  second  type  of  silver  ore  is  characterised  by  its  complexity  and 
by  large  values  in  lead  and  zinc,  and  the  reduction  plant  to  be  successful 
must  respond  to  the  conditions  and  become  itself  more  complex.  Lead- 
and  zinc-mining  are  profitable  here,  because  the  silver  and  gold  occur 
with  them  and  may  be  added  to  the  output  with  little  expense.  The 
decline  in  the  price  of  silver  recently  aided  in  closing  a  number  of  the 
Leadville  plants.  So  intimate  is  the  relation  of  ore  and  process  that 
neither  lead  nor  zinc  can  be  recovered  unless  silver  remain  above  a  certain 
figure.2  Lead  is  a  rather  common  associate  with  silver  in  several  Western 
States,  notably  Utah,  Idaho,  and  Washington.  The  famous  Eureka  of 
eastern  Nevada  is  also  classed  here.3 

A  third  type  is  that  of  Butte,  Montana.  This  region  began  as  a  gold- 
and  silver-mining  centre,  but  has  become  the  greatest  copper-producing 
region  in  the  world,  with  large  quantities  of  gold  and  silver  as  by-products. 
The  ores,  as  now  worked,  are  mainly  copper  sulphides  with  some  galena  and 
blende  in  a  quartz  gangue  with  moderate  values  in  silver  and  gold.  The 
mines  are  situated  along  veins  cutting  the  granite  knob  upon  which  Butte 
is  situated,  and  their  product  is  smelted  at  Butte,  Anaconda,  and  Great 
Falls.  The  output  in  1906  was  as  follows — copper  about  $55,000,000, 
silver  $7,000,000,  gold  81,250,000,  and  lead  851,000.  The  ore 
cannot  be  treated  as  is  that  of  either  of  the  above  types,  nor  can  it  be 
mined  in  the  same  way.  The  geographic  conditions  and  associations  of  the 
•silver  require  specifically  different  processes.  Furthermore,  no  such  hard- 
ships and  difficulties  have  to  be  overcome  in  the  two  latter  types  as  in 
the  first.  Early  transportation  difficulties  have  been  overcome  by  the 
construction  of  railroads.  Fuel  is  near  in  both  cases,  timber  is  abundant 
and  good,  the  water  supply  is  adequate,  and  water  in  the  mines  is  easily 


1  U.S.  Dept.  Treas.  Ann.  Repts.  on  Prod,  of  Precious  Metals,  1903f. 

2  Ibid.,  1900,  p.  115  ;  Tarr,  R.  S.,  JEcon.  Geol.,  p.  235. 
s  U.S.G.S.  Monogr.  vii.,  p.  64-79. 


SCOTTISH   GEOGRAPHICAL   ^GAZINE.  474 

controlled.  The  Butte  association  of  silver  with  copper  is  common  in 
Utah  and  Arizona. 

Table  I.  (p.  424)  shows  a  marked  change  in  the  relative  amount  of 
silver  recovered  from  each  of  the  three  types  of  ore.  This  partial  desertion 
of  the  quartz  ores  for  the  copper  ores  is  due,  in  part,  to  the  discovery  of 
the  new  and  more  closely  adapted  metallurgical  processes  required  by  the 
more  complex  ores,  and,  in  part,  to  the  association  of  two  or  more  by- 
products with  the  silver  whose  value  with  that  of  the  silver  makes  possible, 
with  similar  outlay,  a  total  production  of  metal  of  greater  value  than  that 
possible  in  the  pure  quartz-mining. 

Summary. — Xot  many  of  these  deposits  which  are  now  yielding  in  the 
aggregate  by  far  the  major  portion  of  our  silver,  could  be  operated  at  all 
for  the  silver  alone.  Hence  it  is  due  to  its  association  that  the  silver 
output  is  what  it  is.  On  the  other  hand,  when  the  price  of  silver  declines 
or  the  ore  values  in  silver  fall  below  certain  figures,  certain  mines  must 
shut  down,  curtailing  the  supply  of  copper,  lead,  or  zinc  at  the  expense 
of  the  factories  using  these  metals.  In  each  of  these  three  types,  the 
metallurgical  processes  used  depend  upon  the  associated  minerals ;  and 
the  general  problems  met  vary  with  the  supply  of  timber,  water,  food  and 
transportation. 

In  all  the  mining  processes  discussed  the  influence  of  the  geographic 
conditions,  including  both  telegraphic  relations  and  mineral  and  rock 
associations,  have  aided  in  determining — first,  whether  the  deposit  shall 
be  worked  at  all  or  not ;  second,  what  processes  shall  be  employed,  i.e. 
whether  cradles,  and  toms,  dredges,  stamp  mills  or  smelters ;  and  third, 
what  problems  of  transportation,  supplies,  and  materials  must  be  met, 
and  how  they  are  to  be  solved.  It  is  true  that  man's  knowledge  and 
skill  are  important  factors  all  through  the  general  problem  of  extraction 
and  reduction  of  the  precious  metals ;  but  it  is  equally  true  that  the 
closer  man  causes  his  machines  and  processes  to  conform  to  the  natural 
requirements,  the  greater  his  success ;  and  that  the  ruins  of  plants  and 
dismantled  machines  all  over  the  West  proclaim  the  fate  of  apparatus  and 
process  that  is  not  a  response  to  the  conditions. 


[Reprinted  from  THE  BULLET. N  OF  THE  GEOGRAPHICAL  SOCIETY  OF  PHILADELPHIA, 
Vol.  IX,  No.  i,  January,  19 u.] 


THE   RELATION   OF   GOLD   AND   SILVER   MINING   TO 

THE    DEVELOPMENT    OF    ASSOCIATED 

INDUSTRIES.1 

GEORGE  D.  HUBBARD. 

Relative  Magnitude  of  Several  Industries. — Perhaps  no  industry 
in  America  aside  from  agriculture  has  done  so  much  pioneer  work 
for  other  industries  as  has  the  mining  of  the  precious  metals.  The 
reason  for  this  appears  in  the  distribution  of  their  production.  The 
relative  importance  of  the  different  states  in  the  industry  is  also 
shown  in  accompanying  tables  (I  and  ID,  which  still  further  show  in 
which  of  the  states  to  look  for  the  greatest  influence  of  the  metals, 
as  well  as  those  in  which  their  influence  may  be  small  or  practically 
wanting.  This  phase  of  its  influence,  together  with  its  relation  to 
other  industries  upon  which  it  in  some  degree  depends,  or  which 
depend  more  or  less  upon  it,  constitutes  a  large  and  important  field 
for  study.  In  the  aggregate,  the  value  of  the  output  of  this  industry 
seems  enormous,  and  truly  it  is;  but  lest  too  exalted  an  opinion  of 
its  magnitude  be  gotten  from  this  study  of  its  influence,  the  figures 
for  a  few  crops  and  industries  are  inserted  in  Table  III.  According 
to  the  last  census2  there  were  in  the  United  States  forty-two  indus- 
tries, the  products  of  any  one  of  which  possess  a  value  greater  than 
that  of  gold  or  of  silver  mining,  and  twenty-three  whose  individual 
values  are  greater  than  that  of  both  gold  and  silver  mining  together. 
This  table  (page  4),  containing  only  a  few  of  the  items  and  not  all 
of  the  large  ones,  makes  it  clear  that  it  is  not  necessarily  the  indus- 
try whose  product  has  great  value  that  creates  the  most  stir  or  most 
profoundly  influences  man  and  his  work.  Lead  smelting  and  refin- 
ing has  an  output  20  per  cent,  larger  than  both  gold  and  silver. 
Carpentering  has  twice  as  large  a  value  as  both  combined.  Gold 

1This  paper  is  a  portion  of  a  thesis  presented  as  a  part  of  the  require- 
ments for  the  Ph.D.  degree  in  geography  at  Cornell.  See  Scottish  Geog. 
Mag.  and  Bull.  Am.  Geog.  Society  for  other  parts.  Special  thanks  are  due 
Professors  Tarr,  Willcox  and  Ries,  of  Cornell,  for  criticism  and  sugges- 
tion throughout  the  wholf  work. 

2 1 2th  Census  U.  S.  (1900),  Abs.,  pp.  322-323. 

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Relation  of  Mining  to  Associated  Industries. 


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Relation  of  Mining  to  Associated  Industries. 


TABLE   III. 
VALUES  OF  CERTAIN  CROPS  AND  PRODUCTS. 


Extractive  Industries,  1899. 

Manufacturing  Industries,  1899. 

Industry  or  Product. 

,     Value. 

Industry  or  Product. 

Value. 

Gold  mining  (product)    . 
Silver  mining  (product)  . 
Iron  mining  (ore)  
Corn 

$71,053,000 
7O,8O7,OOO 
58,OOO,OOO 
828,OOO,OOO 
37O,OOO,OOO 

324,000,000 
2I7,OOO,OOO 
I44,OOO,OOO 
I37,OOO,OOO 
98,000,000 

Iron  and  steel 

$8O4,OOO,OOO 
347,OOO,OOO 
339.OOO.OOO 
316,000,000 
175,000,000 

131,000,000 
85,OOO,OOO 
8l.OOO.OOO 
75,OOO,OOO 
5I,OOO,OOO 

Printing  and  publishing 

Cotton  goods             

Carpentering  
Lead  smelting  and  refining   .  . 
Cheese,  butter  and  condensed 
milk 

Wheat  

Cotton  

Oats 

Marble  and  stone  work   
Confectionery 

Eggs 

Poultry  

Shipbuilding 

Potatoes     

Brick  and  tile  

production  is  not  so  large  by  10  million  dollars  as  the  total  for  con- 
fectionery and  is  surpassed  by  the  value  of  the  potato  crop  to  the 
amount  of  27  millions.  The  product  of  either  the  poultry  or  egg 
industry  is  about  equal  to  the  total  gold  and  silver  output;  while 
corn,  wheat,  cotton  and  oats  is  each  millions  beyond  the  precious 
metals.  In  spite  of  their  minor  statistical  rank,  however,  what  of 
their  importance?  What  of  their  influence  on  other  industries? 

Further,  Table  IV  (part  A)  shows  that,  although  the  mining 
of  gold  and  silver  is  important  in  many  ways,  its  intrinsic  value 
compared  with  several  other  industries  is  not  great  even  in  some  of 
the  western  frontier  states.  It  makes  clear  the  fact  (part  B)  that 
the  per  capita  production  of  gold  and  silver  is  almost  universally 
smaller  than  that  of  either  agriculture  or  manufactures,  the  former 
restrained  by  climate  and  the  latter  by  general  frontier  conditions. 
Five  single  states  east  of  the  Mississippi  each  had  a  production  of 
manufactures  greater  than  that  of  all  these  eleven  states  and  terri- 
tories combined,  and  the  manufactures  of  New  York  were  more  than 
three  times  as  great  as  all ;  while  that  of  these  western  states  aggre- 
gates more  than  six  times  the  value  of  their  gold  and  silver  output. 

And  this  minor  industry  has  broken  the  way,  provided  the  means 
and  called  the  labor  west  for  the  development  of  many  industries. 
It  has  successfully  demanded  people,  railroads,  manufactures,  agri- 
culture and  general  industrial  development  over  a  third  of  conti- 
nental United  States  far  in  advance  of  the  fondest  dreams  of  the 
most  sanguine  colonizer. 

(4) 


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6  Relation  of  Mining  .to  Associated  Industries. 

Prehistoric  Mining  and  Metallurgy. — Even  back  in  prehistoric 
time,  Indian  metallurgy,  in  response  to  the  occurrence  of  gold,  devel- 
oped methods  for  smelting  the  ore.  The  Cherokees  were  successful 
smelters  of  gold  in  Georgia  where  De  Soto  found  them,  each  with 
a  long  clay-tipped  reed  in  his  mouth  sitting  around  a  concave  stone, 
upon  which  were  laid  a  few  pieces  of  auriferous  quartz,  and  blow- 
ing a  fire  placed  below  the  heap.  The  Peruvians  and  Mexicans 
washed  gold-bearing  gravel,  and  the  former  mined  quartz-silver 
ledges  as  deep  as  they  could  shovel  the  rock  out.  This  ore  they 
smelted  with  blow-pipes  similar  to  those  used  by  the  Cherokees. 
Even  these  simple  and  primitive  processes  seemed  to  have  been 
known  only  where  the  ore  was  known.  Subsequently,  under  the 
stimulus  of  the  presence  of  the  metal,  the  natives  developed  more 
complex  and  more  closely  adapted  processes. 

Interrelation  of  Early  and  Later  Mining. — The  relation  of  placer 
mining  to  later  gold  and  silver  mining  has  been  suggested.  It 
seems  probable  that  had  there  been  no  placer  gold  to  point  the  way, 
call  miners  west,  and  furnish  easily  gotten  capital  for  the  develop- 
ment of  quartz  mining,  the  latter,  in  its  mountain  fastnesses,  would 
have  been  much  later  in  development,  and  perhaps  even  yet  would 
not  have  appealed  to  men.  It  certainly  was  very  fortunate  that  the 
rich  auriferous  gravels  were  widely  distributed  to  introduce  their 
ancestors  to  prospective  miners. 

Influence  on  Utilisation  of  Gangue  Minerals. — The  influence  of 
the  precious  metals  on  the  production  of  lead,  copper  and  zinc  was 
first  felt  in  the  West  when  mining  of  the  latter  began.  Prospect- 
ing for  the  more  valuable  ores  revealed  the  others ;  but  their  work- 
ing nowhere  began  until  they  were  encountered  in  the  gold  or  silver 
mines  and  could  be  recovered  with  the  latter.  It  is  doubtful  if  the 
development  of  the  lead,  copper  or  zinc  industries  in  the  western 
states  would  have  attained  to  any  considerable  importance  even 
down  to  the  present,  if  the  precious  metals  had  not  blazed  the  way. 
There  are  many  mines  now  producing  both  silver  and  lead,  zinc  or 
copper,  which  could  not  operate  for  one  alone.  Fortunately  lead, 
used  for  a  flux,  is  found  with  silver  in  many  places  in  sufficient 
quantities  for  the  smelters.  But  in  a  few  places  the  flux  does  not 
occur  and  must  be  shipped  to  the  works.  In  response  to  the  demand 
for  lead  ores,  both  British  Columbia  and  Mexico  sent  appreciable 

(6) 


George  D.  Hitbbard.  7 

amounts.4  Many  gangue  minerals,  occurring  in  the  seam  with  silver 
or  gold  and  requiring  removal  to  recover  the  metal,  are  now  saved 
and  turned  to  economic  importance.  Sometimes  the  gangue  min- 
eral is  of  more  value  than  the  gold,  but  without  the  latter  to  attract 
attention,  add  zest  to  the  mining  pursuit  and  help  pay  expenses,  it 
would  never  have  been  developed  away  off  in  the  West.  Some  such 
metallic  ores  have  been  mentioned.  Other  gangue  minerals  taken  in 
the  general  process  are  fluorite,  antimony  and  arsenic  compounds, 
and  a  number  of  minerals  yielding  the  rarer  metals. 

Stimulation  of  Mercury  Mining. — Quicksilver  mining  received 
quite  an  impetus  when  its  product  began  to  be  applied  to  the  reduc- 
tion of  gold  and  silver.  For  several  years  after  its  usefulness  was 
discovered,  little  was  found  in  America;  but  in  1567  the  metal,  in 
cinnabar,  was  found  abundant  at  Huancavelica  in  Peru.  Since  its 
value  was  known,  and  the  precious  metal  ores  both  of  Peru  and 
Mexico  were  adapted  to  its  use,  the  .business  of  mining  and  trans- 
porting it  to  the  gold  mines  leaped  into  full-fledged  maturity  at 
once.5 

In  the  early  forties  this  metal  was  discovered  in  California,  but 
no  use  was  known  for  it  there,  and  the  considerable  distance  to  the 
mines  of  Mexico  did  not  encourage  its  output ;  but  when  the  placers 
of  the  Sierra  gulches  were  found,  the  position  of  California's  mer- 
cury gave  it  a  tremendous  advantage  over  the  South  American  cin- 
nabar deposits,  and  under  this  geographic  advantage  the  young  in- 
dustry flourished.  Under  the  constant  stimulus  of  the  markets  of 
the  West,  the  mercury  mines  have  increased  their  output,  until 
the  United  States  produced  in  1901 6  two  fifths  of  the  world's  total 
and  California  90  per  cent,  of  that.  In  fact,  the  production  is  now 
far  above  our  own  needs,  and  mercury  is  sent  to  China,  Mexico, 
Alaska,  British  Columbia  and  to  Latin  America. 

Influence  on  Various  Manufacturing  Industries. — The  various 
metallurgical  processes  connected  with  the  reduction  of  gold  and 
silver  are  consumers  of  large  quantities  of  chemicals.  The  chlori- 
nation  process  stimulates  the  salt  industry,  from  whose  product 
chlorine  is  derived.  Large  quantities  of  potassium  cyanide  are  used 

*U.  S.  Industrial  Com.,  1901,  Vol.  12,  p.  xli. 

5  Stirling,  P.  J.,  "  Gold  Discoveries  and  their  Probable  Consequences," 
1853,  PP-  127-133- 

6U.  S.  G.  S.,  "  Min.  Resources,"  1902,  pp.  251-258. 

(7) 


Relation  of  Mining  to  Associated  Industries. 

in  the  cyanide  process ;  while  zinc,  iron  sulphate,  manganese  perox- 
ide, caustic  soda,  lime,  and  the  mineral  acids  contribute  to  the  outfit 
of  the  large  establishments ;  and  this  demand  for  chemicals  increases 
the  business  of  chemical  manufacturing  concerns.7 

The  first  process  required  pans  and  shovels  and  more  or  less 
repairing;  hence,  at  the  outfitting  towns  and  commercial  centers, 
blacksmith-shops  and  forges  were  set  up.  Even  in  1849  and  1850 
there  were  several,  and  during  the  next  few  years  others  followed. 
Many  such  concerns  failed  because  of  the  fluctuating  demand;  but 
in  1861  and  1862  prices  became  steadier  and  the  location  of  the 
camps  more  permanent,  resulting  in  the  rapid  improvement  of  these 
little  plants  and  the  introduction  of  more  extensive  machine  shops. 
Then  came  the  invention  and  construction  of  machinery  for  the 
various  new  processes.  Nozzles,  flume-irons,  chains,  dredging  ma- 
chines, engines,  stamp  mills,  and  various  separators,  and  unheard-of 
devices  for  all  sorts  of  process.es  were  made.  Many  types  appeared 
which  were  good  for  nothing  but  the  rubbish  heap  or  the  furnace 
after  having  served  as  a  stepping  stone  to  a  better  adaptation.  Mills 
and  machine  shops  increased  as  their  business  grew.  Special  modes 
of  occurrence  and  peculiar  conditions  required  special  machinery, 
and  several  towns  took  upon  themselves  to  supply  the  desired  arti- 
cles; but  their  attempts  frequently  failed  because  of  their  isolated 
positions  with  reference  to  the  mines  and  the  sources  of  materials; 
while  San  Francisco  has  taken  a  leading  rank  in  making  highly 
specialized  milling  machinery,  pumps  and  engines.8  Her  work  is 
characterized  by  ingenuity,  originality,  great  adaptability,  and  inde- 
pendence of  precedent.  San  Francisco  has  become  the  tenth  Amer- 
ican city  in  manufactures,  shipping  apparatus  in  large  quantities  to 
many  points  in  the  West,  and  also  to  Mexico,  the  South  American 
states,  British  Columbia,  and  even  to  Australia  and  South  Africa. 

Gold  and  Silver  in  the  Arts. — One  line  of  manufacturing  which 
in  the  West  is  especially  responsive  to  the  call  of  the  mining  industry 
is  jewelry  making.  While  the  center  of  the  business  is  on  the 
Atlantic  coast,  many  thousands  of  dollars'  worth  are  made  in  San 
Francisco  and  other  cities  of  the  mountain  states.  In  the  early 
California  days,  some  small  beginnings  were  made,  and  by  the  close 

7  Eissler,  Manuel,  "  Metallurgy  of  Gold,"  pp.  345-6 ;  Park,  J.,  "  The  Cya- 
nide Process,"  1900,  pp.  4,  96. 

8  Bancroft,  H.  H.,  "  History  of  California,"  1884,  Vol.  VII,  pp.  94-95. 


George  D.  Hubbard. 


of  1850  several  good  local  enterprises  had  been  built  up,  because 
of  the  work  that  the  miners  wanted  done.  Denver  and  Salt  Lake 
City  share  this  industry.  In  1880,  the  California  jewelry  establish- 
ments consumed  between  50,000  and  60,000  ounces  of  silver  beside 
much  gold.  Yet  only  a  small  per  cent,  of  the  jewelry  sold  in  Cali- 
fornia and  the  West  is  of  local  manufacture.  The  metals  go  east, 
are  manufactured  mostly  in  and  around  Providence,  R.  I.,  and  New 
York  City,  and  their  products  return.9  A  considerable  amount  of 
the  annual  production  of  both  metals  is  used  in  the  industrial  arts 
in  gold  and  silver  plating,  gilding,  leaf  work  and  solid  wares.  The 
following  table  (V)  gives  the  amount  of  gold  used  in  each  of  the 

TABLE  V. 

PRODUCTION  AND  USE  OF  GOLD  AND  SILVER  IN  THE  WORLD. 
COMMERCIAL  VALUES. 


Year 

Metal. 

Production. 

Used  in  Indus- 
trial Arts. 

Per  Cents 
of  Total 
Production. 

Coined  or  Stamped 
in  Bars  at  Mint.      - 

Per  Cents 
of  Total 
Production. 

IQOI 

Gold 

$260,992,900      j    $79,268,OOO 

30 

$248,093,787 

95 

I9O2 

Gold 

296,048,800      (       75,764,400            25.5 

220,405,125 

75 

1903 

Gold 

325,527,200            76,350,600            24 

240,496,274 

74 

1901 

Silver 

103,805,700 

26,435,800    \         25 

57,072,308 

54 

I9O2 

Silver           85,507,200 

25,654,190    j         30 

79,588,484 

93 

1903     Silver          92,039,600          27,072,346  j       30 

87,223,743              94 

years  1901,  1902  and  1903  in  this  way,  also  the  amount  coined  in 
the  world,  with  the  per  cent,  of  each  figured  on  the  total  produc- 
tion of  the  world.  Seeming  impossibilities  in  connection  with  the 
per  cents,  will  disappear,  when  it  is  remembered  that  only  about 
two  thirds  of  the  gold  used  in  the  arts  is  new7  gold,  coin  and  old 
jewelry  making  up  the  other  third;  and  that  several  per  cent,  of  the 
gold  coined  is  old  coin  recoined.  Moreover,  there  is  often  an 
unused  balance  left  over  from  the  previous  year. 

The  following  table  (VI)  shows  the  amount  of  gold  and  silver 
used  in  the  arts  by  the  leading  nations  in  their  relative  rank  for 
the  calendar  year  1901. 

Four  nations  manufactured  about  three  fourths  of  all  gold  used 
in  the  industry.  Great  Britain  was  the  greatest  consumer,  with  the 
United  States  a  close  second.  United  States  is  the  only  country 
using  any  considerable  amount  of  gold  in  the  arts  that  produces 


8  Ibid.,  VII,  p.  97- 


(9) 


10 


Relation  of  Mining  to  Associated  Industries. 


TABLE   VI. 
LEADING  NATIONS  USING  GOLD  AND  SILVER  IN  THE  ARTS  IN  1901. 


Nation. 

Gold. 

Silver  (Commercial 
Value). 

Total. 

Per  Cents  of 
Total  Used. 

United  States  .  . 
Great  Britain  .  .  . 
France  

$17,379,100 
19,147,100 
14,355,400 

$7,7O9,IOO 
5,304,200 
3,656,700 

$25,O88,20O 
24,451,300 
l8,OI2,IOO 

cir.    24 
cir.     23 
cir.     1  7 

Germany  .  . 

7  I7O  8OO 

2  807  ooo 

10  032  800 

' 
cir.       o.^ 

All  others  

21,246,600 

.    6,872,800 

28,119,400 

cir.    26.5 

Totals  

$79,268,OOO 

$26,435,800 

$105,703,800 

IOO.O 

her  own  gold ;  hence,  there  must  be  a  movement  of  gold  to  England,. 
France  and  Germany.  In  the  case  of  England,  this  comes  mainly 
from  her  colonies.  We  export  large  quantities,  both  to  France  and 
to  Germany,  thus  aiding  their  use  of  the  precious  metals  and  in- 
creasing our  export.  But  the  fact  that  the  sources  of  gold  and 
silver  in  such  large  quantities  lie  within  our  own  borders  is  much 
more  important  to  the  development  of  the  use  of  the  precious  metals 
in  our  own  work  in  the  industrial  arts,  than  it  is  to  that  of  any 
other  nation.  Table  VI  shows  that  we  use  about  one  fourth  of  the 
gold  and  one  third  of  the  silver  which  the  world  uses  in  the  arts. 
Our  great  home  production  makes  it  easy  for  us  to  obtain  our  sup- 
ply, and  probably  aids  in  stimulating  the  desire  to  manufacture  and 
use  such  large  quantities  of  both  metals.  For  this  reason,  we,  a 
young  nation,  are  using  more  gold  and  silver  in  the  arts  than  Great 
Britain,  an  old,  rich,  established  nation. 

'  That  portion  consumed  in  the  industrial  arts  is  used  in  various 
factories,  printing  establishments  and  local  jeweler's  shops.  In 
very  few  cases,  if  any,  is  gold  the  chief  raw  product,  and  probably 
in  no  case  is  it  the  only  one.  It  is  said  that  most  of  the  gold  from 
the  South  Atlantic  States  in  the  early  part  of  the  last  century  was> 
purchased  by  local  jewelers,  who  were  anxious  to  get  it  because 
its  fineness  exceeded  that  of  coin.10  Most  of  the  gold  manufac- 
tured, aside  from  that  used  by  local  jewelers,  is  made  up  in  a  few 
eastern  cities,  but  the  use  of  silver  is  more  widely  distributed.  Four 
states,  Rhode  Island,  Massachusetts,  New  York  and  New  Jersey,11 
in  the  order  named,  make  over  seven  eighths  of  all  jewelry  reported 
to  the  census ;  and  the  city  of  Providence  has  about  one  half  of  the 

"Whitney,  J.  D.,  "Auriferous  Gravels,"  1854,  P-  H7- 
11 12th  U.  S.  Census,  "  Manufactures,"  i,  cc. 

(.0) 


George  D.  Hubbard.  1 1 

industry,  while  New  York  City  and  Newark,  N.  J.,  have  respect- 
ively one  fifth  and  one  seventh.  Two  small  suburbs  of  Providence, 
Attleboro  and  North  Attleboro,  both  in  Massachusetts,  each  have 
a  considerable  percentage  of  the  total.  In  gold  and  silver  leaf  and 
foil,  New  York  City  leads  with  75  per  cent,  of  the  industry,  and 
Philadelphia,  Chicago  and  Boston  follow  with  the  balance.  These 
three  or  four  eastern  centers  lead  in  these  industries  because  the 
smiths  located  near  their  wealthy  markets  years  ago,  and  because 
the  large  amount  of  capital  needed  in  the  industry  could  more 
easily  be  had  in  the  East ;  and  the  change  in  source  of  raw  material 
has  not  been  sufficient  reason  to  overcome  their  adjustment  to  these 
environments.  Hence  they  stay  there.  It  is  not  the  production  nor 
place  of  production  that  determines  the  place  of  manufacture.  Bar 
gold,  silver  bricks,  bullion  or  ore  can  be  shipped  more  easily  from 
the  West  to  market  than  could  the  delicate  manufactured  product. 

Mining  and  Lumbering. — The  roaming  prospector  found  the 
timber  and  in  locating  his  mine  took  a  long  step  toward  the  devel- 
opment of  the  forest  cutting,  since  a  mine  or  a  mining  plant  requires 
lumber  in  great  quantities.  This  need  establishes  a  market  for  saw- 
mill products.  In  California,  late  arrivals  in  the  fall  of  1849,  unable 
to  get  into  the  gulches  for  mining,  began  cutting  wood;  which  found 
ready  market  in  San  Francisco  and  elsewhere.  They  received  $15 
per  cord  for  it,  and  the  boatmen  received  $40  for  it  in  the  city.13 
This  is  the  elementary  example  of  what  took  place  systematically 
in  many  localities,  where  mining  could  not  be  carried  on  during  the 
winter.  The  men  engaged  in  lumbering  in  the  winter  and  mining 
in  the  summer.  Much  more  now  than  in  the  earlier  days  the  saw- 
mill goes  into  camp  with  or  before  the  stamp-mill  and  smelter. 
From  the  extraction  of  lumber  for  mining  purposes  to  the  general 
industry  is  but  a  step,  and  where  the  railroad  to  the  mine  has  made 
lumbering  at  its  terminus  or  along  the  route  possible,  there  is  often 
a  vigorous  development  of  the  industry. 

The  Trades  and  Other  Local  Occupations. — Thousands  of  miners 
drifted  into  Salt  Lake  City  and  San  Francisco  and  either  loafed  or 
engaged  in  the  trades  as  they  could  find  opportunity.  A  whole 
group  of  such  trades  developed,  made  necessary  and  possible  by  the 
presence  of  mining.  Some  preferred  trapping  to  any  city  occupa- 

13 Taylor,  B.,  "Eldorado,"  1857,  pp.  290-291. 


12  Relation  of  Mining  to  Associated  Industries. 

tion.  Ferrying,  and  with  it  river  navigation,  wherever  the  streams 
permitted,  were  important  adjuncts  to  the  pioneer  industry.  Road 
construction  early  began  to  receive  attention,  because,  first,  sup- 
plies must  be  taken  to  the  camps ;  and,  second,  the  products  of  the 
camps  were  sufficient  to  pay  the  expense  of  building.  While  some 
roads  were  thoroughly  adequate,  however,  most  of  the  West  was 
never  well  equipped.  Make-shifts  were  made,  or  nothing  at  all 
was  done  beyond  what  the  teamster  had  to  do  to  get  his  load  along. 
In  the  hydraulicking  region  roads  were  never  safe  any  more  than 
other  property.  A  gold  seeker  could  by  law,  and  often  did,  sluice 
a  road  away  or  cut  an  impassable  channel  across  it  and  leave  it 
for  years.  Exceptional  cases  are  on  record.  A  party  of  hydraulic 
miners  washed  a  road  out  for  many  yards  because  it  was  in  their 
way;  and  then,  having  finished  their  exploitations,  peeled  the  soil 
and  loose  rock  from  the  hillsides  above  the  road,  with  the  same 
engine  that  had  wrought  the  destruction,  and  washed  enough  back 
into  the  old  roadway  to  repair  the  damage  they  had  done.  The 
restoration  was  not  expensive  and  was  as  rapidly  accomplished  as 
an  army  of  men  with  teams  could  have  done. 

Hydraulic  streams,  introduced  for  mining  purposes  alone,  have 
been  applied  to  various  herculean  tasks  in  the  West.  Material  has 
been  washed  into  a  stream  for  the  construction  of  a  wing  dam  by 
the  use  of  the  powerful  stream.  In  the  same  manner  the  Sound 
in  front  of  Seattle  is  being  filled  to  make  new  land  for  the  use  of 
the  city.  In  Montana  a  ditch  for  the  conveyance  of  water  was 
made  in  the  soil  by  the  plowing  action  of  a  gigantic  hydraulic  stream. 
Probably  none  of  these  uses  would  ever  have  been  made  of  hydraulic 
streams  had  not  the  idea  been  suggested  in  mining.  More  extended 
use  than  that  so  far  accorded  it  may  yet  be  made. 

Influence  on  Agriculture. — The  mining  of  the  precious  metals 
in  the  United  States,  from  its  beginnings,  has  been  in  close  touch 
with  agriculture.  In  the  first  rush  in  California,  men,  all  over 
the  state,  deserted  farms  for  gravel  bars,  and  essentially  crippled 
the  industry.  Occasionally  a  man  remained  on  his  ranch  and  con- 
tinued to  produce  wheat,  fruits  or  cattle,  and  with  the  enormous 
demand  for  fresh  products  he  was  able  to  obtain  fabulous  prices. 
It  was  often  as  good  a  business  as  mining  and  much  more  health- 
ful.14 A  considerable  number  of  miners  soon  saw  this  and  joined 

(12) 


George  D.  Hubbard.  13 

the  ranks  of  the  food  purveyors.  Agriculture  received  a  tremen- 
dous boom  during  the  early  years  of  gold  mining,  because  of  the 
sudden,  prodigious  development  of  the  demand  for  its  products 
wherever  mining  developed.  Not  only  was  the  industry  affected 
in  the  mining  districts,  but  the  influence  went  abroad  through  many 
states.  Washington  and  Oregon,  more  advanced  in  settlement  and 
development  than  any  other  western  region  in  1848  and  1849,  were 
greatly  disturbed.15  Excessive  emigration  and  curtailment  of  immi- 
gration robbed  every  industry  of  its  men.  Agriculture  especially 
suffered.  But  the  depression  was  short-lived,  for  in  the  general 
advancement  of  the  West  these  two  territories  felt  the  stimulus 
strongly,  and  the  rapid  development  of  their  industries  is  a  measure 
of  their  response.  The  benefits  were  specially  felt  among  the  poorer 
people.  Many  were  in  debt  and  unable  to  earn  enough  to  pay  their 
obligations.  But  by  the  enlarged  market  and  higher  prices,  created 
by  gold  mining,  money  became  so  abundant  that  debts  easily  melted 
away.  Because  these  territories  were  a  little  more  remote  than 
California,  their  industries  received  much  more  moderate  and  health- 
ful shocks. 

But  with  the  beginning  of  hydraulicking  in  California,  agriculture 
was  found  to  be  in  a  losing  race  with  mining,  both  in  the  field  and 
on  paper.  Mining  was  the  predominant  industry,  more  universal, 
used  more  men,  produced  more  value  and  created  many  times  more 
interest.  With  the  greater  importance  of  mining  almost  univer- 
sally conceded,  it  was  not  hard  to  override  agriculture  and  several 
other  industries.  Practically  every  industry  of  a  mining  district  suf- 
fered interference  in  some  way.16  Mining  was  indeed  a  great  indus- 
try, and  the  people  were  under  its  spell.  They  were  short-sighted, 
prejudiced,  self-deceived,  not  perceiving  that  to  cripple  agriculture 
meant  to  cripple  the  state.  Industries  that  should  have  gone  hand 
in  hand  because  of  their  interdependence  became  intensely  antago- 
nistic. Even  state  legal  decisions  were  discriminating.  By  the 
ruling  of  state  courts  "  Agricultural  lands  although  in  the  posses- 
sion of  farmers  may  be  worked  for  gold,"  and  "the  right  belongs 
to  miners  to  enter  on  public  mineral  lands  although  used  for  agri- 

11  Bancroft,  H.  H,  "  History  of  California,"  Vol.  VI,  p.  65. 
"Bancroft,  H.  H.,  "History  of  Oregon,"  Vol.   II,  pp.  56-5?;  "History 
of  Washington,  Idaho,  and  Montana,"  p.  13. 

18Shinn,  C  H.,  "Mining  Camps,"  1885,  pp.  260  f. 

('3) 


14  Relation  of  Mining  to  Associated  Industries. 

cultural  purposes  by  others,  and,  whether  inclosed,  or  taken  up  and 
entered  under  the  Possessory  Acts."  "  All  persons  who  settle  for 
agricultural  purposes  upon  any  mining  lands  in  California  settle  at 
their  own  risk."  "  The  miner  .  .  .  may  at  any  time  proceed  to 
extract  any  valuable  metals  which  he  finds  in  such  lands."  :<  The 
fairest  of  gardens,  thriftiest  of  vineyards,  most  fruitful  of  orchards, 
one  and  all,  were  liable  to  be  destroyed  without  remedy  by  early 
placer  miners."  They  might  "  undermine  houses,  wash  away  fertile 
fields,  move  towns  to  new  sites  and  tear  the  old  location  down  to 
bed  rock  with  torrents  of  water." 

It  became  apparent  very  early  that  war  had  been  declared  be- 
tween the  two  belligerent  interests.  Grevious  complaints  were  en- 
tered, and  attempts  at  combination  made  among  the  farmers.  The 
miners  haughtily  claimed  their  rights.  The  first  real  organization 
was  effected  on  Bear  River,  a  tributary  of  the  Sacramento,  when  the 
land  owners  formed  the  Protective  Association  to  prosecute  mining 
companies  for  damages.  It  was  asserted  that  this  stream,  before 
hydraulicking  began,  was  clear  and  pure,  and  in  these  few  years  had 
been  made  so  muddy  that  it  was  of  no  value  for  irrigation ;  and  that 
its  bed  had  been  aggraded  ten  to  fourteen  feet,  while  the  stream 
overflowed  its  banks,  devastating  fields  along  its  course.17  But  the 
organization  failed  to  accomplish  results,  because  the  blame  could 
not  be  located.  The  members  of  a  camp  washed  earth  into  the 
stream  and  damaged  crops,  but  who  should  pay  damages  could  not 
be  decided ;  nor  could  they  tell  what  the  crop  uninjured  would  have 
been  worth.  And  worse  yet  was  the  complication, '  when  several 
camps  washed  gravel  into  the  same  stream,  or  several  gulches  fed 
the  single  stream  on  lower  land.  All  feeders  brought  rock  waste, 
but  no  damage  was  done  until  the  burdens  were  united  in  the  slow- 
flowing  stream.  Yet  something  must  be  done.  To  let  matters  con- 
tinue was  to  sacrifice  agricultural  lands  and  river  channels  as  well, 
and  to  prohibit  hydraulicking  was  to  cripple  the  mining  business  and 
throw  away  millions  of  dollars  invested  in  its  development.18 

Matters  gradually  took  on  another  aspect,  however,  when  it  was 
really  comprehended  that  the  conflict  between  agriculture  and  min- 
ing was  civil  war;  and  in  January,  1884,  the  California  Supreme 
Court  ruled  that  "  private  rights  could  not  be  encroached  upon  under 

17  Patterson,  R.  H.,  "  The  New  Golden  Age,  etc.,"  1882,  Vol.  I,  p.  262. 
"Bancroft,  .H.  H.,  "History  of  California,"  Vol.  VII,  p.  648. 

(H) 


George  D.  Hubbard.  15 

guise  of  miner's  customs  even  in  districts  where  statutes  recognize 
validity  of  such  local  laws/'  Thus  agriculture  ultimately  con- 
quered, as  it  must  surely  do.  Gold  mining  cannot  survive  without 
agricultural  products,  either  local  or  imported.  The  business  calls 
agriculture  into  existence,  if  at  all  possible,  and  because  of  depen- 
dence upon  it,  cannot  effectually  crush  it.  In  Arizona  and  New 
Mexico,  while  the  conditions  for  successful  agriculture  are  gener- 
ally at  a  premium  because  of  the  general  aridity,  many  crops  can  be 
grown  by  irrigation.  Such  crops,  because  of  their  proximity  to  the 
mining  towns  and  camps,  would  bring  good  prices.  Fruit  and  vege- 
table farms  located  within  convenient  distance  of  such  markets  and 
supplied  with  irrigation  facilities  would  be  profitable,  because  ad- 
vanced prices  could  be  commanded.  Of  course  such  an  item,  in 
reducing  the  difficulties  of  mining  this  region,  would  promote  the 
latter  industry  and  in  turn  react  on  agriculture.  The  two  industries 
cater  to  each  other,  and  neither  can  be  successfully  arrayed  against 
its  helper  without  mutual  loss. 

Placer  and  hydraulic  mining  brought  blessings  also  to  the  lands. 
The  results  were  not  all  destructive.  Broad  alluvial  flats  were  built 
up  where  nothing  but  worthless  gravel  or  even  less  valuable  bare 
rock  existed,  and  these  are  now  enormously  productive.  Many 
farms,  temporarily  inundated  with  muddy  water,  were  renewed  by 
a  layer  of  fine  mud  sediment.  Shinn  asserts  that  "lands  have  as 
often  been  created  as  others  have  been  ruined."19  It  is  probably 
rather  strong,  but  it  approaches  the  truth.  In  many  places  the  great 
ditches,  tunnels  and  canals,  constructed  for  mining  purposes  and 
abandoned  on  the  exhaustion  of  the  placers,  are  now  used  for  irri- 
gation ditches.  Ditches  that  could  not  possibly  be  constructed  out 
of  agricultural  profits  alone  were  easily  launched  by  mining  cor- 
porations, and  now  in  several  states  are  bringing  their  blessings  to 
orchards  and  farms. 

Thus  in  summary  the  presence  of  gold  and  silver  mining  in  the 
\Yest,  which  alone  of  all  kinds  of  mining  was  best  suited  to  sur- 
vive in  a  new  and  distant  land,  stimulated  and  greatly  encouraged 
agriculture  as  an  associated  pioneer  industry.  And  the  special 
forms  of  mining  necessarily  adopted,  placer  and  hydraulic  processes, 
because  the  glamor  of  gold  gave  the  industry  undue  importance, 

19  Shinn,  C.  H.,  "  Mining  Camps,"  p.  263. 

05) 


1 6  Relation  of  Mining  to  Associated  Industries. 

overrode  the  rights  of  agriculture  and  seriously  interfered  with  it. 
Had  the  gold  been  found  in  a  region  with  other  industries  well 
established,  this  interference  would  not  have  occurred.  And,  finally, 
while  the  two  industries,  mining  and  agriculture,  mutually  aided  and 
fostered  each  other,  the  above  mentioned  special  processes  provided 
enriched  fields  and  irrigation  ditches,  which  might  be  appropriated 
by  agriculture  and  thus  be  made  to  contribute  still  further  to  the 
expansion  of  the  latter. 

Development  of  Transportation. — A  great  industry,  whose  ex- 
pansion in  the  fifties  may  be  attributed  almost  entirely  to  the  precious 
metals,  is  that  of  transportation  and  its  concomitant  construction. 
World  commerce  with  its  existing  means  underwent  rapid  enlarge- 
ment at  once  on  the  advent  of  gold  into  the  list-  of  western  com- 
modities. The  Pacific,  never  before  navigated  for  trade  in  any 
regular  way  except  around  the  southern  capes  to  India,  was  brought 
into  requisition.  Its  vast  area  of  public  highway  was  used  from 
Cape  Horn  northward  to  San  Francisco,  and  from  Puget  Sound 
southward,  and  not  only  for  men  but  for  provisions.  Transporta- 
tion of  supplies  as  well  as  men  from  Hawaii  was  greatly  stimulated. 
The  number  of  vessels  from  the  Orient  increased  many  fold  during 
the  first  few  years  of  the  western  awakening.  And  even  down  to 
the  present  oriental  trade  and  communication  grow  rapidly  with  the 
development  of  the  West,  although  the  direct  influence  of  mining 
proportionately  decreases  as  the  influence  of  other  unfolding  indus- 
tries increases. 

Land  Routes. — On  land  the  response  to  the  demand  for  trans- 
portation facilities  was  sure,  but  laborious.  We  have  seen20  what 
it  meant  to  transport  the  thousands  of  people  across  the  continent 
in  wagons,  on  pack  animals  and  on  foot.  The  problem  of  moving 
bulky  goods  was  more  difficult,  and  the  increasing  necessity  of 
getting  all  manner  of  goods  into  the  West  in  the  fifties  made  any 
solution  thereof  inadequate  as"  soon  as  it  materialized.  Organized 
pack  trains  of  great  heavy  wagons  drawn  by  multiple  teams  of 
horses  or  cattle  were  among  the  first  responses.  Many  an  emigrant 
loaded  his  wagon  with  merchandise,  which  he  expected  to  sell  when 
he  reached  California.  The  clumsy  wagons  drawn  across  country 
were  often  later  put  into  local  stage  service.  With  a  cargo  of 

20  Bull.  Am.  Geog.  Soc. 

(16) 


George  D.  Hubbard.  I? 

5,000-16,000  pounds  and  ten  to  twelve  teams  of  oxen  or  mules, 
these  vehicles  crawled  out  of  San  Francisco,  Sacramento  or  Stock- 
ton to  the  mines.  In  the  south,  and  to  a  greater  extent  in  the  north, 
where  roads  were  poorer  and  ravines  steeper  and  more  difficult, 
mule  pack  trains  served  the  purpose.21 

Express  Companies  and  the  Telegraph. — The  heavy  staging  in 
California  was  rarely  adequate  to  move  the  goods,  and  never  safe 
for  moving  gold,  nor  was  the  government  postal  system  of  the 
interior  sufficient  for  its  business;  so  local  express  companies  were 
organized  both  to  carry  the  mail  and  to  convey  parcels.  The  federal 
postal  system  failed  because  of  lack  of  pecuniary  allowance  for  its 
maintenance  in  the  midst  of  the  gold-begotten  high  prices  and  enor- 
mous business.  The  express  companies,  private  concerns  with  their 
management  on  the  ground,  came  much  nearer  meeting  the  exigen-- 
cies  of  the  times.  In  1853  there  were  twelve  companies  connecting 
with  San  Francisco.22  Two  of  these,  Adams  and  Wells  Fargo,  were 
extensions  or  branches  of  eastern  companies.  The  former  failed 
in  California,  while  the  interests  and  operations  of  its  successful 
rival  have  been  very  closely  related  to  the  gold  and  silver  mining 
interests.  Only  the  business  and  handsome  compensation  derived 
from  gold  mining  made  successful  operations  of  express  companies 
possible  at  that  time. 

Xot  only  was  the  postal  business  rapidly  extended  in  the  West, 
but  a  more  speedy  means  of  transporting  information  was  demanded. 
Nothing  was  too  new  or  expensive  for  California.  Telegraph  lines 
came  long  before  they  would  have  come  without  the  influence  of 
gold,  and  have  been  multiplied  from  the  very  beginning.  By  the 
end  of  the  first  decade,  many  lines  connected  the  camps  and  trade 
centers  with  the  great  hub  of  the  West  at  the  Golden  Gate;  and 
other  lines  connected  the  East  with  the  West  long  before  the  rail- 
roads were  in  operation. 

Water  Routes. — The  development  of  river  traffic  has  been  sug- 
gested previously.  River  craft  very  early  plied  the  waters  of  every 
navigable  stream  in  the  Sacramento  valley.  Regular  trips  were 
made  from  San  Francisco  to  Marysville,  Coluca  and  Sacramento, 
the  former  at  the  head  of  navigation  on  the  Feather,  and  the  others 
at  junctions  of  tributaries  with  the  Sacramento.  Navigation  for 

21  Bancroft,  H.  H,  "  History  of  California,"  Vol.  VII,  pp.  151-156. 

22  Ibid.,  VII,  pp.  145-151. 

(17) 


i8  Relation  of  Mining  to  Associated  Industries. 

provisioning  mining  camps  developed  as  far  up  the  Umpqua23  River 
as  possible.  The  extensive  traffic  on  the  Missouri  and  its  western 
feeders  due  to  immigrants  to  the  mines  and  the  movement  of  mer- 
chandise to  the  same  destination  is  told  by  Chittenden.24  This  river 
transportation  extended  to  the  head  of  navigation  on  the  Missouri, 
Fort  Benton  and  built  that  town.  The  business  became  so  great 
under  the  increasing  demands,  induced  by  the  development  of  min- 
ing in  Montana  and  Idaho,  that  it  brought  on  its  own  destruction; 
for  the  large  and  growing  need  of  transportation  facilities  called 
into  existence  the  Union  and  Central  Pacific,  which  took  care  of  the 
trade  in  the  southern  and  eastern  part  of  the  route,  also  the  Northern 
Pacific,  which  captured  all  the  Upper  Missouri  commerce  and  left 
Fort  Benton  little  reason  for  being. 

The  Influence  on  the  Development  of  Railroads. — Railroad  plans 
for  transcontinental  lines  were  already  made  when  the  news  of  gold 
discoveries  in  California  reached  the  Atlantic;  but  none  had  mate- 
rialized, because  of  the  clashing  of  northern  and  southern  rights  and 
of  state  and  federal  rights.  Each  faction  feared,  if  a  road  were 
built  across  the  continent  where  the  other  desired  it,  that  the  latter's 
gain  would  be  detrimental  to  the  former.  None  would  make  con- 
cessions for  the  common  good.  So  in  the  conflict  all  routes  in  the 
United  States  remained  closed  until  1869.  The  Panama  route  was 
determined  upon  and  surveyed,  and  the  contracts  let  before  the 
influence  of  gold  mining  reached  the  place.  But  during  the  first 
year  or  two  of  its  construction  the  crowds  of  miners  demanding 
transportation  across  the  isthmus,  interfered  greatly  with  work  on 
the  new  railroad  by  calling  off  most  of  the  labor.  In  spite  of  this 
hindrance,  and  by  the  aid  of  the  stimulating  demand  for  transporta- 
tion for  the  miners,  road  building  proceeded;  and  the  Panama  rail- 
road was  completed  in  i855-25 

Roads  discussed  in  the  United  States  were  a  northern,  a  central 
and  a  southern  line  which  finally  materialized  respectively  as  the 
Northern  Pacific,  the  Central  and  Union  Pacific,  and  the  two  south- 
ern routes,  the  Santa  Fe  and  Southern  Pacific. 

23  Bancroft,  H.  H.,  "  History  of  Oregon,"  Vol.  II,  p.  183. 

24  Chittenden,    H.    M.,    "  Early    Steamboat    Navigation,    on    the    Missouri 
River,"  1903. 

26  Bancroft,  H.  H.,  "  History  of  California,"  Vol.  VI,  p.  139.  Otis,  F.  N., 
"  The  Isthmus  of  Panama,"  1867,  pp.  25,  36.  Rodrigues,  "  The  Panama 
Canal,"  1885,  pp.  10  f. 

(.8) 


George  D.  Hubbard.  19 

Federal  land  grants  were  relied  upon  to  build  the  roads,  but  the 
demand  for  them  came  strongly  from  the  Far  West.  Until  1848, 
the  only  route  discussed  in  the  North  was  that  mainly  coinciding 
with  the  Lewis  and  Clark  route.  The  South  became  awakened  at 
the  accession  of  territory  in  1848,  and  still  more  on  the  announce- 
ment of  gold  in  it.  They  saw  the  possibility  of  a  route  across  all 
southern  soil  and  terminating  in  the  gold  fields.  Thus  the  whole 
situation  changed.26  Asa  Whitney,  prime  mover  in  the  Northern 
Pacific  scheme,  proposed  to  terminate  the  line  much  farther  north, 
where  all  earlier  interests  had  been  centered  for  a  score  of  years. 
Now  his  plan  was  laid  aside;  and  the  South,  plus  the  gold  of  Cali- 
fornia, constituted  a  force  so  potent  that  the  terminus  had  to  be 
in  California.  For  a  compromise,  the  line  ran  westward  in  the  cen- 
tral part  of  the  country.  Another  phase  of  the  desire  for  a  railroad 
to  California  had  some  influence  in  obtaining  government  aid. 
Under  the  impetus  of  its  great  wealth,  the  new  West  was  develop- 
ing very  rapidly.  It  was  cut  off  from  "The  States"  by  deserts, 
mountains  and  a  long  sea  voyage,  and  it  faced  the  free  open  ocean. 
Bancroft  records  that  in  1860  there  was  talk  of  a  political  "  cut  off  " 
and  a  new  nation.27  Californians  felt  that  they  had  sufficient  re- 
sources to  go  alone.  But  of  course  Congress,  neither  North  nor 
South,  would  hear  to  this,  so  steps  for  railroad  connection  \vere  rap- 
idly taken.  The  route  finally  decided  upon  was,  in  the  main,  one 
used  by  the  forty-niners  and  others  later  across  South  Pass,  through 
Salt  Lake  City,  Ogden,  along  the  Humboldt  and  over  the  Sierras 
down  Rio  Americano  to  Sacramento  and  San  Francisco.  This 
terminal  never  would  have  been  chosen  had  it  not  been  for  the  in- 
terest centering  in  California's  gold.28  This  line  was  built  from 
both  ends  and  was  finished  near  Ogden,  Utah,  in  i86o,,29  while  the 
Northern  Pacific  was  delayed  until  1883.  For  a  time  during  the 
discussions  of  route  for  the  first  railroad,  the  unequal  pull  or  influ- 
ence of  various  mining  regions  seemed  likely  to  wreck  all  schemes ; 
but  better  things  came,  and  three  distinct  lines  were  constructed.  A 
number  of  local  lines  in  California  and  other  states — stubs  from  the 

26  Humboldt,  A.  Baron  von,  "  History  of  the  Geography  of  a  New  Conti- 
nent," p.  77. 

27  Bancroft,  H.  H.,  "  History  of  California,"  Vol.  VII,  pp.  532  f. 

28  Hunt's  Merchant's  Magazine,  Vol.  XVIII,  pp.  497,  592. 

29  Bancroft,  H.  H.,  "  History  of  California,"  Vol.  VII,  p.  145.     Smalley, 
E.  V.,  "  History  of  the  Northern  Pacific  Railroad,"  p.  275. 

(19) 


2O  Relation  of  Mining  to  Associated  Industries. 

main  line  to  a  mine — had  been  built  before  i875.30  A  detailed  map 
of  any  of  the  leading  western  lines  of  to-day  shows  clearly  the 
marked  influence  of  the  distribution  of  the  precious  metals  in  the 
construction  of  the  stub  lines.  Similar  developments  of  branch 
roads  appear  in  South  Africa  and  Australia. 

The  Southern  Pacific  and  Santa  Fe,  with  a  goodly  number  of 
stubs  and  short  branch  lines,  are  responses  to  the  call  of  growing 
trade  and  mining  business  in  California  in  part,  but  especially  in 
Arizona  and  New  Mexico.  This  latter  region  is  abundantly  sup- 
plied with  the  precious  metals  in  nearly  all  parts,  but  there  are  few 
great  deposits  known  at  present.  Transportation  is  perhaps  the 
greatest  problem.  Lack  of  construction  timber  and  fuel  are  serious 
difficulties  in  many  places,  but  adequate  transportation  would  over- 
come both.  Valuable  mines  of  gold  and  silver  have  been  able  suc- 
cessfully to  demand  a  railroad  to  enter  their  vicinity ;  but  lesser  ones 
are  unable  to  obtain  the  desired  response  and  hence  operate,  if  at 
all,  against  heavy  odds. 

It  was  not  agriculture  that  called  for  railroads,  because  that 
industry  was  little  developed  when  the  roads  came;  but  by  their 
presence  across  the  semi-arid  region  and  through  many  attractive 
valleys,  they  have  made  possible  settlements  and  the  extension  of 
agriculture,  where  both  would  have  been  slow  to  go  but  for  the 
transportation  facilities  thus  afforded. 

Effects  in  Withdrawing  Capital  -from  Other  Industries. — Much 
of  the  capital  acquired  by  mining  was  expended  in  further  develop- 
ing the  industry,  invested  in  city  property,  or  in  developing  other 
local  industries.  But  this  was  not  sufficient.  Not  only  did  wealth 
migrate -from  the  mines  into  the  industries  and  structures  of  the 
cities,  but  it  came  from  the  East  into  California,  and  later  into  Colo- 
rado, and  now  into  every  state.  Nor  did  it  flow  in  trickling  streams 
into  the  mining  industry.  It  came  with  prodigality  and  reckless- 
ness, and  entered  all  industries,  but  especially  those  tributary  to 
mining.  Gold  and  silver  mines  have  always  had  a  secret  cord  on 
the  purses  of  the  people.  Because  of  this  influence  over  men  and 
their  stores,  money  had  been  withdrawn  from  almost  every  industry 
and  put  into  stocks  of  gold  mines,  depriving  the  robbed  industry  of 
an  equal  amount  of  its  earnings.31  Even  the  English  have  responded 

30  Bancroft,  H.  H.,  "History  of  California,"  Vol.  VII,  pp.  542-592. 
81  Porter,  R.  P.,  "  The  West  from  the  Census  of  1880,"  p.  374. 

(20) 


George  D.  Hubbard.  21 

with  capital  for  American  mines  and  often  recklessly.  So  great  is 
the  power  of  attraction  that  millions  have  thus  been  removed  from 
legitimate  enterprises,  both  in  eastern  United  States  and  in  England, 
and  sunk  in  western  gold  and  silver  mines.  Not  infrequently  the 
properties  thus  endowed  were  wild-cat.  Other  millions  have  been 
wisely  invested  and  are  now  paying  good  interest. 

Influence  on  Technical  Education. — Putting  a  broad  construction 
on  the  term  industry  or  occupation,  it  is  possible  to  speak  in  this 
section  of  mining  education  and  of  mining  schools  of  the  United 
States.  Of  course,  gold  and  silver  alone  should  not  be  given  all 
the  credit  for  their  development ;  but  if  the  percentage  of  technical 
processes  and  of  experts  employed  in  mining  the  precious  metals 
be  compared  with  those  in  the  whole  mining  industry  of  the  country, 
these  two  metals  will  have  a  very  creditable  rank.  Ours  has  come 
to  be  a  mining  nation,  not  because  of  a  few  abundant  minerals,  but 
because  of  many.  Our  rank  in  gold  and  silver  has  been  first  more 
than  once  in  the  last  few  years,  but  the  place  is  interchangeable, 
first  one  of  three  countries  leading,  then  another.  We  have  attained 
this  rank  from  almost  the  bottom  of  the  list  in  about  a  half 
century,  surpassing  nations  whose  large  output  is  the  result  of  years 
of  growth  and  long  experience.  Many  technical  processes  and  com- 
plex but  adapted  machines  have  originated  in  our  mills  because  in 
them  men  have  learned  by  experience  what  sort  of  combinations  to 
use.32  By  experiments  in  the  Washoe  mills  alone,  the  ore  dressing 
industry  of  the  whole  country  has  largely  benefited ;  and  the  cost  of 
training,  however  great,  is  inconsiderable  compared  with  its  impor- 
tance and  value  to  our  mining  industry.  A  great  mass  of  technical 
skill  and  knowledge  has  been  rapidly  acquired.  Schools  with  ex- 
pensive equipment  and  large  attendance  have  been  established  in 
several  of  our  western  states  in  the  heart  of  the  business,  and  others 
in  connection  with  old  institutions  in  the  East.  A  great  body  of 
scientific  and  technical  literature  has  accumulated.  No  nation  grap- 
ples with  mining  problems  in  a  more  practical  way  and  with  more 
satisfactory  results  than  does  ours.  No  doubt,  this  is  in  consid- 
erable measure  traceable  to  the  abundance  and  variety  of  our  gold 
and  silver  ores  and  the  refractoriness  of  so  many  of  the  associations. 

Summary. — In  the  words  of  Humboldt,  "the  influence  of  the 

82  U.  S.  G.  S.  Monog.,  IV,  p.  121. 

(21) 


22  Relation  of  Mining  to  Associated  Industries. 

mines  on  the  progressive  cultivation  of  the  country  "  and  the  devel- 
opment of  its  industries  "  is  more  durable  than  are  the  mines  them- 
selves." Just  as  mining  was  a  great  and  powerful  motive  for  immi- 
gration, so  it  was,  and  is,  for  industrial  development.  It  creates 
demands  for  the  products  of  agriculture  and  manufacturing  and 
thereby  stimulates  and  expands  both.  It  requires  transportation, 
and  often  causes  roads  and  railroads  to  be  constructed  against  all 
but  insurmountable  obstacles.  It  has  put  the  industrial  development 
of  the  West  decades  ahead  of  where  it  could  possibly  have  been  in 
the  normal  frontier  development,  and  given  its  commerce  and  manu- 
facturing a  distinctive  tone.  Further,  it  has  stimulated  nearly  all 
industries  throughout  the  country,  increased  their  kinds  of  output 
as  well  as  their  quantity,  and  profoundly  modified  the  distribution 
of  hundreds  of  industries. 

OBERLIN  COLLEGE, 
OBERLIN,  OHIO. 


(22) 


THE    INFLUENCE    OF    THE    PRECIOUS    METALS 

OX  AMERICAN  EXPLORATION,  DISCOVERY, 

CONQUEST   AND    POSSESSION* 

BY 

GEORGE   D.   HUBBARD,  PH.D.f 

EARLY  EXPLORATIONS  AND  DISCOVERIES.  Beginning  with  the  first 
explorer  who  sailed  across  the  Atlantic,  "the  expectation  of  finding 
a  land. rich  in  treasures  of  gold  and  silver  or  in  products  easily  sold 
for  the  metals  was  the  prevailing  motive  in  the  minds  of  most  of  the 
early  discoverers  and  explorers."  Whitney  saysj  the  sixteenth 
century  travelers  had  little  else  in  mind  save  the  recompense  for 
their  toils  and  dangers  in  the  rich  mines  of  the  precious  metals  which 
they  were  going  to  discover.  Thus  exploration  was  prompted  by 
the  desire  for  gold  or  for  the  lucrative  trade  in  gold  and  spices  from 
the  Orient.  The  news  of  immensely  rich  empires,  and  mines  of  gold 
and  silver  ceaselessly  attracted  Spanish  exploration  and  conquest 
into  new  quarters  and  thereby  the  more  rapidly  and  extensively 
opened  up  the  New  World  to  the  knowledge  of  mankind.  The 
treasure  was  first  found,  in  quantities,  in  the  vaults  and  temples  of 
the  Indian  civilizations  both  in  Mexico  and  in  Peru ;  but  it  was  soon 
also  discovered  in  the  mines  from  which  the  natives  derived  it,  and 
in  others  new  even  to  them.§ 

Balboa,  on  the  Isthmus  in  search  of  precious  metals  in  1513,!! 
found  gold  in  the  hands  of  natives  and  traded  for  500  pounds  of  it. 
Cortez  on  the  Gulf  Coast  of  Mexico  learned  of  the  wealth  of  the 
kingdom  of  Montezuma,  and  marched  successfully  on  his  capital, 
destroying  the  natives  in  vast  numbers  in  order  to  effect  his  purpose 
and  get  possession  of  the  treasure.  Pizarro  is  said  to  have  extorted 

*  This  paper  is  a  portion  of  a  thesis  presented  as  a  part  of  the  requirements  for  the  Ph.D.  degree 
in  Geography  at  Cornell  University.  For  other  parts  see  Scottish  Geographical  Magazine  and  later 
numbers  of  the  Bulletin.  Special  thanks  are  given  to  Professors  R.  S.  Tarr,  W.  F.  Willcox  and 
H.  Ries  for  criticism  and  suggestion  throughout  the  whole  work. 

t  Read  before  the  Association  of  American  Geographers,  Baltimore,  igo8. 

\  Whitney.  J.  D.     Metallic  Wealth  of  the  United  States,  p.  xxi. 

§  Patterson,  R.  H.    The  New  Golden  Age.     Vol.  i.,  pp.  422-424. 

II  Ibid.,  pp.  339-340. 


2  The  Influence  of  the  Precious  Metals  on  American 

from  the  Incas  $15,000,000  worth  of  gold  and  silver,  partly  by  peace- 
able means,  but  with  accompanying  slaughter  and  pillage.*  These 
discoveries  were  of  prime  importance  as  revealing  metals  already 
extracted ;  and  they  soon  led  to  the  finding  of  the  sources. 

The  Spaniards  wanted  gold,  silver,  or  anything  which  would  bring 
the  precious  metals  easily ;  and  by  all  methods  they  acquired  about 
$250,000  per  annum,  chiefly  gold,  during  the  first  thirty  years  (i492~ 
1521).  But  during  the  conquests  of  Mexico  and  Peru,  and  for  ten 
years  thereafter,  the  acquisition  of  precious  metals,  now  largely 
silver,  rose  rapidly  to  about  $3,000,000  per  annum.  So  far,  essen- 
tially all  the  wealth  obtained  by  the  Spaniards  in  America  was  gotten 
by  conquest,  plunder,  tribute  or  barter.  Practically  no  mining  had 
been  done  prior  to  1546,  when  the  fabulously  rich  silver  mines  at 
Potosi  in  Bolivia  were  discovered,  together  with  other  mines  of  both 
silver  and  gold.  And  now,  by  forced  native  labor,  and  negro  labor, 
the  production  of  silver  took  another  quick  stride  and  rose  to  an 
average  of  $10,000,000  per  annum  until  i6oo.f 

Near  the  close  of  the  sixteenth  century,  the  Jesuits  had  spread 
across  Mexico,  gotten  control  of  Lower  California  and  discovered  the 
pearl  fisheries  of  the  warm  adjacent  seas.  Spanish  settlers  followed, 
and  these  discovered  auriferous  gravels,  the  southern  end  of  that 
long  line  of  gravel  deposits  extending  north  and  south  across  the 
United  States  and  Canada.  Settlements  grew,  and  agriculture  began. 
The  Indians  harassed  the  settlers  until  their  complaints  brought  a 
small  army  from  headquarters,  who  pursued  the  Indians  into  the 
mountains  and  in  1771  discovered  very  rich  placers. J  Some  2,000 
persons  rushed  in,  within  a  few  months,  and  the  deposits  were  exten- 
sively developed.  As.  in  the  case  of  California  later,  lack  of  provi- 
sions hindered  development.  It  is  interesting  to  note  how  near  these 
developments  led  them  to  California,  and  how  close  they  came  to 
making  discoveries  that  would  have  profoundly  modified  the  course 
of  history  in  the  United  States  in  1846-48,  and  subsequently. 

Two  MOTIVES  IMPELLED  THE  SPANISH.  In  the  course  of  events 
connected  with  the  Spanish  occupation  of  America  two  motives 
prompted  action,  motives  often  operating  in  the  same  mind.  One 
was  the  avowed  purpose  of  the  religious  orders  to  promulgate  their 
religion  among  the  natives ;  the  other,  the  ceaseless  attraction  exerted 

*  Ibid.,  p.  340  ;  also  Bancroft,  H.  H:,  Mexico,  Vol.  3,  pp.  571-2  ;  Prescott,  W.  H.,  The 
Conquest  of  Peru,  Vol  i,  pp,  433,  467. 

t    Patterson,  R.  H.,  The  New  Golden  Age,  Vol.  i,  pp.  422-424. 
%    Ibid.,  Vol.  i,  pp.  347-350. 


Exploration,  Discovery,  Conquest  and  Possession 

by  treasure  upon  the  military.*  But,  unfortunately,  the  Jesuits  were 
sometimes  influenced  by  the  knowledge  of  the  occurrence  of  silver 
and  gold.  While  the  chief  missionary  of  a  party  may  have  had  pure 
motives,  his  helpers  often  completely  forgot  their  specific  work  and 
went  where  treasure  bade  them  go.  With  this  double  motive,  explo- 
ration and  conquest  rapidly  disclosed  the  New  World  to  the  Old.  It 
is  not  our  purpose  to  trace  the  influence  of  the  missionary  spirit  in 
America.  As  for  the  other  influence,  so  far  as  it  operated  through 
the  Spanish,  and  aside  from  the  above  mentioned  results,  its  sole 
effects  in  America  were  the  enriching  of  a  comparatively  small  num- 
ber of  Spanish  adventurers  and  the  gorgeous  maintenance  of  both 
Church  and  State.  The  commonalty  suffered  from  two  conditions, 
both  born  in  part  of  greed  for  gold  and  silver, — a  cramped  and  re- 
stricted trade,  and  the  tyranny,  despotism  and  avarice  of  officials. 

EFFECTS  OF  GREED  FOR  GOLD  AND  SILVER.  This  very  greed  for 
the  gold  was  one  of  the  causes  that  operated  to  scatter  the  energy  of 
the  Spanish  over  Southern  North  America  and  all  South  America, 
and  to  prevent  their  developing  cities  or  fixed  industries.  They  con- 
quered, primarily  for  its  treasure,  a  territory  larger  than  they  could 
master  and  administer ;  and  as  a  result,  their  occupancy  was  irregular 
and  short  lived  over  a  considerable  portion  of  their  possessions/)* 
The  thirst  for  gold  made  the  adventurers  wild  and  led  them  a 
romantic  career  in  the  New  World.  They  disdained  agriculture, 
neglected  singularly  fertile  plains,  and  thwarted  legitimate  com- 
merce. They  directed  their  steps  wherever  they  heard  tales  of 
abundant  treasure.  And  it  was  in  these  pursuits,  so  eagerly  and 
mercilessly  carried  on,  that  they  destroyed  the  native  population  and 
thus  greatly  lessened  the  value  of  their  possessions  by  denuding  the 
land  of  its  native  races.J  Had  this  industrious  and  rudely  cultured 
race  of  Indians  been  conserved  and  properly  dealt  with,  the  Span- 
iards might  have  had  a  loyal  colony  instead  of  a  rebellious  vassalage. 
And,  further,  the  Indians  might  have  lasted  some  time  as  tillers  of 
the  soil,  if  given  careful  and  wise  supervision,  and  thus  have  pro- 
duced abundant  harvests  of  products  desired  in  Europe,  thereby 
adding  extensive  and  lucrative  commerce  to  Spain's  advantage.  And 
what  would  have  been  Spain's  gain,  would  also  have  been  England's 
and  America's. 

HYPOTHETICAL   CASES.     Whether   the   absence    of   the   treasure 

*     Bourne,  E.  G.,  Spain  in  America,  pp.  170-175  ;  Keller,  Colonization,  pp.  176-8,  203. 

t    Ibid.,  p.  201. 

t    Ibid.,  p.  271  ;  Patterson,  R.  H.,  The  New  Golden  Age,  Vol.  i,  pp.  337-8. 


4  The  influence  of  the  Precious  Metals  on  American 

would  have  made  the  Spanish  even  endurable  masters  or  not,  is  a 
question;  but  it  is  certain  that,  having  once  scented  it,  their  avarice 
knew  no  bounds,  and  destruction  and  bloodshed  followed  in  their 
wake.  Had  their  course  been  so  different  as  to  have  perpetuated 
their  occupation  of  Mexico  as  long  as  they  held  Cuba,  American 
history  would  have  been  quite  another  story.  And  with  a  loyal 
Spanish  colony  south  of  us  as  successful  as  the  British  Colony  north 
of  us,  our  history  and  development  might  have  been  considerably 
different.  What  has  been  said  of  the  Spanish  in  Mexico  applies  in 
principle  to  the  Spanish  in  Peru  and  Bolivia.  We  might  have  had 
more  valuable  neighbors  in  these  countries.  What  might  have  been 
is  har4  to  tell,  but  it  is  safe  to  assert  that  the  conditions  assumed 
above  would  have  yielded  results  very  different  from  those  which 
have  passed  into  history.  Spanish  power  in  America  was  intimately 
connected  with  the  output  of  the  precious  metals.  When  the  treas- 
ure flowed  freely,  Spain  flourished  both  at  home  and  abroad;  and 
when  it  slackened,  her  power  withered.  Probably  without  the 
precious  metals,  her  course  would  have  been-  less  offensive,  and  her 
influence  less  pernicious. 

ENGLISH  AND  SPANISH  COMPARED.  South  American  mines  were 
worked  three-quarters  of  a  century  before  there  was  an  English 
settlement  on  the  American  continent.  A  century  of  Spanish  explo- 
ration, gold  hunting,  christianizing  and  a  kind  of  colonizing,  in  the 
South  had  been  completed  before  the  occupation  of  the  northeastern 
seaboard  began ;  then  followed  a  century  of  settlement  and  explora- 
tion along  the  North  Atlantic.  While,  in  individual  cases,  some 
exploration  and  exploitation  was  done  by  the  English  immigrants  in 
the  vain  hope  of  finding  wealth  in  gold  or  silver,  as  colonists  they 
were  actuated  by  other  motives.  Not  finding  gold,  they  were  not 
scattered  through  the  mountains,  but  became  much  more  of  a  solid 
unit  than  did  the  Spanish.  Other  factors,  however,  than  the  absence 
of  gold  operated  against  their  becoming  scattered.  Since  Spain  had 
laid  claim  to  so  much  of  the  South,  the  English,  when  ready  to 
explore  and  settle,  were  restricted  to  the  so-called  less  desirable 
parts.*  Had  there  been  easily  gotten  mineral  wealth  discovered  in 
the  Appalachian  hills  and  valleys  in  the  early  days,  there  would  have 
been  a  rush  of  adventurers  at  first,  with  fewer  fixed  and  staid  settle- 
ments. Perhaps  it  would  have  been  roving  Spanish,  and  not  English, 
along  the  Atlantic  coast.  Hardships  under  the  less  settled  conditions 
would  greatly  have  surpassed  those  of  the  early  colonists  as  it  was, 

*     Keller,  Colonization,  pp.  178-80. 


Exploration,  Discovery,  Conquest  and  Possession  5 

or  even  those  of  California  in  1849  and  1850.  One  might  well  ask, 
what  would  our  history  have  been  had  there  been  abundance  of 
precious  metals  in  New  England  and  the  Old  Appalachians.  Of 
course,  ultimately  the  result  would  have  been  the  development  of  the 
country ;  but  its  possession  undoubtedly  would  have  been  different. 
Again,  suppose  the  Spanish  had  not  found  treasure  in  the  South. 
Well  does  Whitney*  suggest,  "How  different  might  have  been  Ameri- 
can history  had  there  been  settlements  in  the  Mexican  and  South 
American  States  instead  of  silver."  No  doubt  the  distribution  of 
gold  and  silver  found  response  in  the  distribution  of  the  nations 
in  America  in  the  early  days.  This  is  never  more  clearly  seen  than 
when  the  profoundly  different  distribution  is  imagined. 

THE  FRENCH.  The  French  in  America  are  usually  thought  of  as 
a  people  with  very  slight  predilections  for  the  precious  metals.  They 
were  led  by  other  motives.  But  we  are  told  that  they  explored 
extensively  for  gold  and  silver  in  1719-20,  about  the  junction  of  the 
Missouri  and  the  Mississippi  rivers,  but,  of  course,  with  no  positive 
results.  Had  they  found  the  object  of  their  quest  in  the  region,  the 
story  of  French  exploration,  occupation  and  possession  would  have 
needed  another  chapter. 

SUMMARY  TO  1848.  Thus  it  becomes  apparent  that  the  desire 
for  the  precious  metals  was  an  active  agent  in  the  explorations 
carried  on  by  the  early  voyagers;  that  the  distribution  of  gold  and 
silver  led  the  searchers  into  nearly  all  parts  of  America  south  of  the 
thirtieth  parallel  of  north  latitude,  and  aided  in  scattering  the  energy 
of  the  Spanish  over  too  large  a  territory;  that  greed  and  avarice, 
finding  a  fertile  soil  in  the  acquisition  of  American  precious  metals, 
caused  the  Spanish  to  adopt  and  maintain  a  policy  toward  the  natives 
and  toward  her  colonists  both  cruel  and  pernicious;  a  policy,  detri- 
mental to  the  United  States  through  our  relations  with  Mexico';  that 
the  lack  of  gold  and  silver  in  the  Appalachians  has  had  an  influence 
for  good,  especially  on  the  English  colonists,  and  through  them  on 
the  conquest  and  possession  of  the  northeastern  United  States ;  and 
that  the  finding  of  treasure  and  the  increasing  production  of  gold  and 
silver  have  stimulated  geographic  exploration  and  discovery. 

The  amount  of  production  of  gold  and  silver  continued  to  rise, 
and  the  cost  to  decline  from  time  to  time  by  the  introduction  of 
improved  processes.  It  is  stated  that  the  production  of  gold  and 
silver  in  the  New  World  in  1800  had  risen  to  about  $50,000,000  per 
annum.  It  is  also  known  that  the  production  of  the  United  States 

*     Whitney,  J.  D.,  Metallic  Wealth  in  the  United  States,  p.  xxi. 


6  The  Influence  of  the  Precious  Metals  on  American 

at  that  time  was  scarcely  one-third  of  a  million,  and  mostly  gold, 
per  annum ;  yet,  indirectly,  the  production  in  other  American  States 
has  aided  the  United  States  and  has  modified  early  American  history 
perceptibly. 

THE  CALIFORNIA  GOLD.  Up  to  the  discovery  of  gold  in  California 
the  Pacific  side  of  the  continent  had  remained  almost  an  uninhabited 
region  save  for  the  scattered  Franciscan  missionary  posts ;  and 
unvisited  except  by  a  few  scientific  expeditions  that  crossed  the 
desert  and  'mountain  wastes,  by  whalers  who  occasionally  touched 
the  coast,  and  by  trappers  and  fur  traders  who  moved  up  and  dqwn 
the  streams  and  along  the  coast.  The  interior  was  visited  even  less. 
Knowledge  concerning  the  whole  region  was  very  meager.  The 
few  expeditions  brought  back  a  little  information  concerning  strips 
of  country  actually  crossed,  and  the  trappers  and  fur  traders  knew 
the  courses  of  the  streams,  but  the  real  opening  up  of  the  country 
and  the  discovery  of  its  resources,  agricultural  as  well  as  mineral, 
had  scarcely  begun  in  1848.  Transportation  was  very  difficult,  food 
all  but  wanting,  water  restricted  to  widely  scattered  points,  and 
Indians  were  hostile.  No  advantages  to  be  gained  by  crossing  were 
known.  The  greatness  of  the  uninhabited  region  required  almost 
prohibitive  provisioning  of  expeditions  purposing  to  cross;  and  the 
pressure  of  population  from  the  east  had  not  yet  reached  a  sufficient 
degree  to  push  the  frontier  into  the  deserts  and  mountains. 

But  with  the  discovery  of  the  wealth  buried  so  slightly  in  the 
sands  of  the  Sierras,  was  also  found  the  incentive  sufficient  to  induce 
men  to  brave  the  difficulties  presented  by  a  long  land  journey,  or  to 
risk  the  perilous  voyage  of  six  months  around  Cape  Horn  to  reach 
the  otherwise  inaccessible  California.  Incidental  to  getting  into 
California,  more  exploration  of  the  interior  was  done  in  one  summer 
than  had  ever  been  done  before,  and  more  than  probably  would  have 
been  done  in  the  normal  course  of  events  in  a  score  or  two  of  years 
to  come. 

The  fur  traders  had  worked  out  many  routes,  but  rarely  did  they 
point  the  way  entirely  across  from  the  Mississippi  to  the  Pacific. 
Fremont's  report  in  1845,  embodying  careful  topographic  and  descrip- 
tive work,  was  a  further  contribution  to  the  scanty  fund  of  informa- 
tion concerning  routes  westward.  The  Oregon  trail*  was  worked 
out,  and  used  prior  to  the  gold  discoveries  by  several  bands  who 
later,  in  part,  at  least,  figured  in  California.  Perhaps  the  Sante  Fe 

*    Parkraan,  Francis.     The  Oregon  Trail. 


Exploration,  Discovery,  Conquest  and  Possession  7 

trail*  from  St.  Louis  to  Sante  Fe,  and  the  Gila  and  Spanish  trails 
from  there  to  southern  California  were  as  important  as  any  of  the 
older  trails.  These  routes  were  almost  entirely  established  prior  to 
1848,  hence,  their  discovery  can  by  no  means  be  ascribed  to  the 
influence  of  this  metal;  but  they  were  little  known  and  little  used 
save  by  the  fur  traders  until  1849.  During  that  summer  trails  be- 
came roads,  and  bridle  paths  highways,  cut-offs  were  found,  new 
watering-places  discovered  and  in  many  ways  the  courses  improved. 
The  trail  to  Salt  Lake  City  through  South  Pass  was  used;  but, 
instead  of  going  on  northwestward  to  the  Columbia  and  Oregon,  a 
new  trail  was  worked  out  down  the  Humboldt  River  to  Humboldt 
Sink,  then  up  the  back  of  the  Sierras,  and  down  the  many  ravines 
on  the  western  face.  The  route,  a  well-woven  cord  nearly  to  the 
eastern  slope  of  these  mountains,  seemed  to  fray  out  ijito  many 
strands  leading  down  the  gulches  on  the  western  side.  The  American 
River,  down  which  Fremont  traveled,f  is  fairly  typical  in  the  hard- 
ships presented.  It  is  astonishing  what  difficulties  men  and  even 
women  and  children  will  surmount  when  under  the  influence  of  the 
gold  fever. 

Mention  must  also  be  made  of  the  exploration  of  routes,  mainly 
by  water,  which  came  into  use  on  the  advent  of  California  gold,  and 
led  from  the  Atlantic  ports  to  Mexico  and  Central  America  and  then 
by  stream  or  on  the  land  across  to  the  Pacific,  and  thence  to  Cali- 
fornia. The  route  with  the  shortest  land  section  crossed  the  Isthmus 
of  Panama,  and  was  found  very  early  both  by  passengers  and  freight. 
Other  routes  crossed  at  Tehuantepec,  Nicaragua  and  from  Tampico 
across  northern  Mexico  to  Mazatlan  and  other  Pacific  ports,  all 
resulting  in  the  exploration  of  sections  of  the  country,  but,  neither 
in  occupation  nor  in  possession,  any  more  than  the  crossing  of  the 
arid  plains  and  the  mountains,  resulted  at  first  in  their  occupation. 
Routes  discovered  and  developed  by  emigrants  in  search  of  gold  at 
the  end  of  their  journey,  differ  in  this  respect  from  those  worked  out 
by  the  ordinary  overland  emigrant.  Only  the  discouraged  or  ex- 
hausted halt  on  the  former,  while  the  latter  soon  become  enlivened 
by  settlements  of  those  who  find  places  "good  enough  for  them"  and 
turn  aside  to  occupy. 

EXPLORATION  BY  PROSPECTORS.  This  pioneer  exploration,  dis- 
cussed above,  took  place  during  the  early  days  of  the  gold  excitement 
in  California ;  but  as  the  richer  deposits  became  exhausted,  the  pros- 

*    Semple,  E.  C.  American  History  and  Its  Geographicaj  Conditions,  Ch.  X  and  XI. 

t    Fremont,  J.  C.,  Report  of  the  Exploring  Expedition  to  the  Rocky  Mountains,  pp.  230  f. 


8         The  Influence  of  the  Precious  Metals  on  American  Exploration 

pector  set  out,  impelled  by  a  continuous  vision  of  "nuggets."  He 
pushed  back  into  the  interior  wilderness,  across  deserts,  over  ridges, 
into  glens,  gulches,  parks,  and  long  stately  valleys;  he  climbed 
mountains,  crossed  divides  and  traced  streams  from  end  to  end. 
While  his  explorations  were  not  scientific,  and  his  results  were  not 
recorded,  his  discoveries  were  valuable  even  aside  from  the  treasure 
they  revealed,  because  definite  reports  of  his  discoveries  often  got 
into  possession  of  others;  and  the  latter  followed  him  out  to  make 
new  settlements  or  to  occupy  fields  which  he  had  only  viewed.  And 
even  in  the  absence  of  positive  statement  of  valuable  finds  of  minerals, 
lands,  forest,  or  game,  the  report  that  so-and-so  had  been  through 
certain  valleys  or  over  certain  mountains  or  had  been  exploring  in  a 
named  locality  or  direction,  served  to  turn  the  attention  thitherward, 
and  make  one  feel  somewhat  acquainted  with  the  places  beyond  fris 
more  complete  knowledge.  It  all  aided  in  the  conquest  of  valley 
and  hillside,  spring  and  water  course,  to  other  purposes  than  the 
maintenance  of  wild  animals  and  savages.  Desire  to  find  gold,  and 
the  reports  of  gold  and  silver  found  all  over  the  West,  prompted 
further  exploration,  and  led  to  discoveries,  not  only  of  precious 
metals,  but  of  many  geographic  features,  streams,  mountains,  valleys, 
and  plains,  and  of  many  other  less  attractive  but  more  remunerative 
resources  of  the  region.  Under  the  powerful  stimulus,  exploration 
was  very  active,  and  the  knowledge  of  the  West  extended  phenomen- 
ally. 

SCIENTIFIC  EXPLORATION  OF  ALASKA.  Nor  should  this  section 
be  concluded  without  reference  to  the  influence  Alaskan  gold  has  had 
upon  exploration.  It  played  no  part  in  the  discovery,  nor  in  our 
gaining  possession  of  the  peninsula,  but  since  the  announcement  of 
its  presence  the  exploration  of  the  country  by  prospectors  and  miners, 
and  by  those  who  would  enter  the  carrying  trade  to  assist  the  miners, 
has  been  very  vigorously  pushed.  In  a  much  closer  way  careful 
surveying  and  mapping  have  gone  on  rapidly  under  the  supervision 
of  the  United  States  Geological  Survey,  and  at  the  expense  of  the 
Federal  Government.  Of  course,  this  work  is  not  done  alone  in 
response  to  the  influence  of  gold  and  silver ;  but  the  distribution  of 
the  work  both  in  Alaska  and  in  the  States  shows  how  influential 
have  been  the  mineral  deposits  in  determining  the  areas  to  be  sur- 
veyed first.  Gold  and  silver  have  played  an  important  part,  as  have 
other  minerals. 

OHIO  STATE  UNIVERSITY, 
Columbus,  Ohio. 


[Reprinted  from  the  BULLETIN  OF  THE  AMERICAN-  GEOGRAPHICAL  SOCIETY,  February,  1912.] 


THE   INFLUENCE   OF   THE    PRESENCE,  DIS- 
COVERY   AND    DISTRIBUTION    OF    THE 
PRECIOUS   METALS   IN  AMERICA  ON 
THE    MIGRATION    OF    PEOPLE* 


GEORGE    D.    HUBBARD 
Oberlin  College 


In  a  previous  sectionf  was  traced  the  exploration  carried  on  by 
the  three  leading  nations  in  America, — Spanish,  English  and  French. 
The  exploring  parties  in  some  cases  became  so  large  and  numerous 
that  they  really  constituted  a  migration,  a  flood  of  immigration.  It 
is  difficult  to  establish  a  line  that  will  properly  delimit  explorers  arid 
adventurers  from  immigrants,  but  for  all  practical  purposes  those 
who  come  and  roam  about  with  no  intention  of  remaining  in  a  place 
may  be  classed  in  the  first  group ;  those  who  come  ostensibly  to  re- 
main, even  though  not  permanently  in  one  place,  may  be  put  in  the 
second  group.  A  migration  has  the  idea  of  mass  movement  and  for 
a  more  or  less  permanent  home,  while  the  exploring  party  is  small 
and  never  intends  to  abide. 

SPANISH  MIGRATIONS.  Myersi  speaks  of  the  migration  of  ad- 
venturers and  colonists  from  Spain  to  America  in  the  Sixteenth 

*  This  paper  is  a  portion  of  the  thesis  presented  as  a  part  of  the  requirement  for  the  Ph.D.  degree 
in  Geography  at  Cornell  University.     For  other  parts  see  this  Bulletin,  Vol.  XLII,  pp.  594-602;  Scott. 
Geog.  Mag.,  Vol.  XXVI,  pp.  440-466;  Vol.  XXVII,  pp.  417  and  470;    Bull.  Phil.  Geog.  Soc.,  Vol.  IX, 
pp.  1-22;  Vol.  X,  pp.  36-50.     Special  thanks  are  herein  expressed  for  criticism  and  suggestion  given 
by  Professors  R.  S.  Tarr,  H.  Ries,  and  W.  F.  Willcox,  throughout  the  whole  work. 

t  Bulletin,  Vol.  XLII,  pp.  594-602. 

*  Myers,  P.  V.  W.     Gen.  Hist.,  1889,  pp.  517,  518. 

97 


98  Precious  Metals  as  a  Geographic 

Century  as  to  be  compared  only  with  that  to  California  and  the 
West  in  1849  and  subsequently.  It  was  more  scattered  in  destina- 
tion, and  less  scattered  in  source.  Moved  by  the  stories  of  rich 
deposits,  the  desire  for  adventure  and  for  a  new  home,  thousands 
of  Spanish  and  Portuguese  took  passage  for  the  new  continent. 
Because  the  treasure  could  be  found  in  so  many  places,  and  because 
gold  and  silver  had  the  greatest  attraction,  they  occupied  nearly  all 
parts  of  South  America  and  Mexico,  and  even  established  them- 
selves in  territory  constituting  at  present  southwestern  United  States. 
The  mines  in  America,  in  these  early  days,  drew  no  small  part  of 
their  workers  from  the  mines  in  Spain,  although  many  of  the  labor- 
ers were  Indians  and  Negroes ;  and,  inasmuch  as  the  precious  metals 
were  found  well  distributed  over  South  America  and  Mexico,  the 
colonists,  scattered  over  all  this  region,  have  given  an  Iberian  color 
to  the  life  and  activities  of  the  whole  territory. 

ENGLISH  IMMIGRATION.  South  American  mines  were  worked 
nearly  a  century,  before  English  immigration  made  a  beginning  on 
the  North  Atlantic  coast  and  spread  westward  across  the  lowlands 
to  .the  foot-hills  from  New  England  to  Georgia ;  and,  when  the  Eng- 
lish immigration  began,  gold  and  gold  hunting  seem  to  have  had 
little  power  over  it.  Other  ends  than  wealth  were  sought.  The 
men  in  that  stream  of  colonists  were  almost  uniformly  in  search  of 
permanent  homes  surrounded  by  agriculture,  lumbering,  fishing,  and 
the  beginnings  of  manufacturing.  How  fortunate  for  these  colonists 
tbat  they  found  no  gold  and  silver  in  the  Appalachians,  for  probably, 
had  they  found  deposits,  their  settlements  would  have  been  preceded 
by  Spanish  miners'  camps,  and  their  standards  of  life  by  those 
somewhat  opposed  to  the  arts  of  peace  and  husbandry. 

Just  as  gold  played  no  part  in  the  immigration  of  the  early  Eng- 
lish colonists  to  America,  so  the  desire  for  gold  was  not  the  in- 
fluence that  led  those  waves  of  families  and  civilization  across  the 
eastern  barriers  and  to  the  plains  and  prairies  of  the  Mississippi 
Valley.  Likewise,  the  expansion  into  the  first  row  of  States  west  of 
that  great  river,  a  growth  partly  antecedent  to  the  discovery  of  gold 
in  California,  apparently  cannot  be  traced  to  the  influence  of  the 
precious  metals.  jSFor  can  those  several  western  movements  which 
stretched  to  the  Pacific  coast  prior  to  1849,  really  be  said  to  have 
had  anything  to  do  with  gold.  The  Mormons  were  forced  from 
behind  to  cross  the  great  plains.  The  Oregon  immigrants  of  1843 
were  induced  to  go  by  the  prospect  of  lucrative  trade  in  furs.  A 
scattered  emigration  from  the  eastern  and  central  States  sifted  a 


Factor  in  the  Migration  of  People  99 

sparse  population  of  hardy  pioneers  through  the  mountains  or 
around  Cape  Horn  into  California,  Washington,  and  Oregon.  But 
the  motive  was  not  in  the  gold.  The  results  of  all  this  fragmentary 
and  heterogeneous  westward  movement  of  the  people  played  its  part 
in  1849-1853,  for,  when  the  news  of  the  brilliant  discoveries  along 
the  American  River  went  abroad,  the  response  first  began  among 
those  who  had  found  their  way  into  the  vicinity  for  other  purposes 
than  gold  digging. 

LOCAL  EFFECTS  ix  1848.  Californians  were  at  first  incredulous 
of  the  discovery,  and  for  three  months  the  news  did  not  reach  points 
outside  the  valley.  Accordingly,  the  response  did  not  begin  until 
April,  1848.  Then  there  began  a  cautious  ingathering,  which  was 
quickly  followed  by  an  apprehension  of  the  magnitude  of  the  dis- 
coveries, a  quicker  dissemination  of  the  news  in  ever  widening 
circles  and  a  hasty  response  to  the  influence  of  the  finds.  The 
widening  circle  of  information  could  travel  no  faster  than  man 
could  move  from  one  place  to  another;  hence,  where  geographic 
conditions  made  travel  easy  the  circle  enlarged  rapidly,  but  on  the 
Sierra  side  its  expansion  was  greatly  restricted.  Consequently,  the 
first  rush  of  eager  miners  came  from  the  California  Valley  and  the 
limiting  slopes  of  the  mountains  into  the  gulches  of  as  many  of  the 
Sierra  streams  as  were  known  to  possess  gold-bearing  gravels. 
California-Americans  to  the  number  of  2,000  and  California-Spanish- 
Mexicans  and  Indians,  in  the  aggregate  about  3,000,  wrere  at  work 
by  the  middle  of  the  summer.  The  population  .of  the  mining  camps 
was  varied,  to  be  sure,  during  the  first  summer,  but  no  more  so  than 
was  that  of  California  and  the  immediate  vicinity  at  the  discovery  of 
gold,  barring  a  few  foreign  sailors  who  deserted  their  ships  in  harbor. 
The  cosmopolitan  nature  of  the  migration  was  a  feature  of  subse- 
quent years  and  not  of  the  first.  As  soon  as  the  news  had  time  to 
get  to  Oregon,  Xorthern  Mexico,  and  the  Sandwich  Islands,  after 
gaining  credence  near  home,  there  started  parties  from  these  places, 
the  Argonauts,  Sonorans,  and  Kanakas;*  and  as  the  news  of  the 
discovery  reached  the  far-off  Peruvian  and  Chilian,  so  the  response 
came  quickly  in  considerable  parties  from  each  country. 

So  great  was  the  excitement  in  the  California  Valley,  and  so  con- 
tagious the  gold  fever,  that  few  escaped  the  effects  of  the  epidemic. 
The  main  valley  in  close  proximity  to  the  centers  of  influence  was 
pretty  well  drained  to  the  gulches  before  the  close  of  the  season  of 
1848.  By  June,  three-fourths  of  the  male  population  of  San  Fran- 

*  Bancroft,  H.  H.     Hist  of  Calif.,  1884.  7  vols.,  Vol.  VI,  p.  7T. 


100  Precious  Metals  as  a  Geographic 

• 

cisco  had  gone.     The  Star,  of  San  Francisco,  May  27,  1849,  con- 
tained  the  following  vivid  description : 

"Stores  are  closed,  places  of  business  vacated,  houses  are  tenantless,  various 
kinds  of  mechanical  labor  suspended  or  given  up  entirely, — everything  wears  a 
desolate  and  somber  look,  everywhere  all  is  dull,  monotonous,  dead." 

Newspapers  ceased  publication  by  June;  town  council  and  the 
sanctuary  services  ended;  sailors,  and  even  officers,  and  sometimes 
captains,  left  ship  in  the  harbor.  Mexicans  and  Americans  were 
equally  affected;  townsmen  and  farmers  equally  impetuous;  judges, 
priests,  doctors,  alcaldes,  criminals  and  their  keepers,  soldiers  and 
their  officers, — all  classes  went.  Towns  and  farms  were  equally 
depopulated  all  along  the  valley  and  coast  to  San  Diego.* 

GOLD  AND  SILVER  PRODUCING  REGIONS  ARE  MOUNTAINOUS.  But 
beyond  the  valley  on  the  east  for  a  thousand  miles  lay  mountains 
and  deserts;  and  on  the  west,  the  sea.  Few  miners  could  come 
from  adjoining  territory.  It  was  uninhabited.  The  gulches,  them- 
selves, and  their  placers  were  in  the  mountains,  and  the  quartz  veins 
from  which  these  placers  and  essentially  all  others  of  the  West 
were  derived,  lay  farther  up  in  rugged,  wild,  mountain  masses. 
This  topographic  distribution  is  a  result  of  the  origin  ancl  nature  of 
gold  deposits.  The  metal  occurs  in  veins  and  fissures,  hence  in 
regions  of  metamorphism,  folding,  and  faulting;  in  regions  where 
rocks  may  contain  heated  waters,  often  associated  with  intrusions  or 
with  lava  flows,  sometimes  not  yet  cold.f  Silver  occurs  in  similar 
regions  and  for  the  same  reasons.  Inasmuch  as  rocks  which  have 
been  subjected  to  these  dynamic  processes  are  metamorphosed  and 
often  thereby  hardened,  and  as,  with  the  crustal  disturbances,  uplift 
has  also  occurred,  the  country,  favored  with  the  precious  metals,  is 
usually  rough,  high,  mountainous,  and  difficult  of  access.  Reference 
to  lists  of  producing  States,  and  a  comparison  of  these  lists  with  a 
physical  map  of  the  United  States,  will  make  it  clear  that  almost  all 
the  gold  and  silver  produced  in  the  country  comes  from  two  widely 
separated  mountainous  areas. 

When  the  gold  of  the  Southern  Appalachian  States  was  found, 
mining  began  in  the  midst  of  a  well  settled  region,  in  which  food- 
producing  industries  were  well  established,  and  men,  although  busy 
with  other  work,  were  right  on  the  ground.  Further,  the  deposits 
were  not  extensive;  hence,  far  reaching  migrations  did  not  occur. 
But  when  the  California  gold  was  found,  and,  later,  when  both 

*  Bancroft,  ibid.^  pp.  59,  263.     Shinn,  C.  H.,  Mining  Camps,  pp.  109-114. 
t  Am.  Inst.  Min.  Eng.  (1903),  Vol.  XXXIII,  pp.  79of. 


Factor  itj,  the  Migration  of  People  101 

metals  were  discovered  in  other  Western  States,  the  newness,  rough- 
ness, inaccessibility,  and  distance  to  centers  of  population  had  suc- 
cessfully restrained  any  considerable  accumulation  of  people  and 
any  development  of  other  industries.  Consequently,  the  rich  and 
extensive  deposits,  by  virtue  of  their  geographic  position  and  asso- 
ciations, did  not  find  at  hand  labor  and  supplies  for  their  exploitation  : 
and,  when  the  news  of  their  discovery  went  forth,  it  called  out  a 
great  migration;  a  migration  from  distant  regions  where  labor  was 
more  abundant. 

EXCITEMENT  ix  EASTERN  UNITED  STATES.  Word  of  the  unusual 
stir  on  the  Pacific  did  not  reach  the  Atlantic  coast  until  late  in  1848, 
because  of  the  great  distance  and  difficult  transportation ;  and,  dur- 
ing the  winter  and  early  spring  of  1849,  the  news  was  spread  far 
afield,  until  by  the  close  of  summer  of  that  year  knowledge  of  the 
mining  possibilities  there  had  become  world-wride.  Xo  such  wide- 
spread excitement  had  ever  been  known  before ;  and  nothing  so  far- 
reaching  and  influential  has  occurred  since,  although  just  as  great 
discoveries  of  wealth  have  been  made.  The  sweeping  force  of  the 
craze  arose  from  the  remoteness  of  its  source,  and  the  consequent 
novelty  and  wildness,  and  from  the  richness  of  the  deposits  compared 
with  anything  known  before.  It  was  beyond  the  dreams  of  the 
ancients. 

As  the  fact  took  hold  of  the  people  in  eastern  United  States, 
thousands  determined  to  go.'  Whitney  conjectures  that  within  a 
few  months,  some  50,000  of  the  healthiest  and  most  energetic  young 
men  of  the  nation  were  on  their  way  to  California.  So  strong  was 
the  desire  to  go,  that  many  started  by  one  of  the  sea  routes  before 
the  winter  was  over ;  and  as  the  weather  permitted,  others  departed 
by  the  land  routes,  until  almost  every  town  throughout  the  Eastern 
States  had  contributed  a  representative  to  the  great  army  now  clos- 
ing in  on  California.  Whitney  estimates  that  100,000  reached  the 
region  during  the  year  1849,  among  whom  were  citizens  of  every 
State  in  the  Union.  The  estimate  was  probably  a  little  generous.* 
Land  routes  were  popular  and  supplied  as  many  miners  as  the  sea 
routes,  but  not  so  continuous  a  stream;  because  most  were  pro- 

*  Whitney.  J.  D.,  Encyclopedia  Britannica,  9th  Ed.,  Vol.  4,  p.  701.  Shinn,  C.  H..  Mining  Camps, 
p.  109.  R.  H.  Patterson  ('The  New  Golden  Age,  Vol.  i,  pp.  108-0)  estimates  the  white  population  of  Cali- 
fornia, in  1850,  at  less  than  100,000,  and  quotes  the  census  of  Nov.,  1852,  at  170,000  whites.  Shinn 
(Mining  Camps,  p.  132)  says:  "  In  December,  1849,  there  were  53,000  Americans  in  California."  and  a 
few  pages  later,  states  that  in  1849  35.000  persons  came  to  California  by  sea,  and  42,000  by  land.  Not 
many  had  left  for  other  fields  as  early  as  the  close  of  1849.  Perhaps  as  much  credence  should  be  given 
to  Whitney  as  to  Shinn,  who  presents  considerable  discrepancy  in  his  own  statements. 


102  Precious  Metals  as  a  Geographic 

hibitively  closed  during  the  winter,  while  one  might  sail  anytime 
during  the  twelve  months. 

LAND  ROUTES.  Overland  routes  had  been  known  for  years  prior 
to  1848.*  The  fur  traders  had  worked  them  out,  and  the  explorers 
had  mapped  some  of  them;  but  it  should  be  remembered,  that  they 
were  not  made  for  continuous  traffic  across  the  continent.  •  The 
connecting  passes  and  high  level  routes  had  not  become  well  estab- 
lished because  so  little  used.  Even  the  well  ordered  trails,  formerly 
used  primarily  for  freight,  now  became  great  passenger  routes. 

A  common  starting  point  was  at  the  elbow  of  the  Missouri  River, 
but  several  towns  in  the  vicinity  became  outfitting  towns:  St.  Joseph, 
Westport,  Leavenworth,  Ft.  Kearney,  Independence,  Kansas  City, 
and  even  Omaha  became  important  commercial  centers  in  the  effort 
to  meet  the  needs  of  the  trade.  The  northern  routes  to  Laramie 
and  South  Pass  conducted  rather  more  emigrants  westward  that 
the  southern  route  to  Sante  Fe,  probably  because  the  gold  was 
mainly  in  the  northern  half  of  California,  and  because  the  emigrants 
did  not  know,  or  at  least  realize,  that  a  longer  journey,  but  at  a 
much  less  altitude,  bv  Sante  Fe  might  bring  them  to  their  desired 
grounds  equally  as  soon.  Possibly  the  aridity  and  lack  of  settle- 
ments tended  to  keep  people  from  the  southern  route,  while  the  re- 
cruiting station  at  Salt  Lake  City  offered  a  chance  to  rest  by  the 
northern  line.  The  routes  followed  by  the  land  emigrants  through 
Salt  Lake  City  led  through  rugged  mountain  passes  and  over  long 
desert  stretches ;  and  then,  as  the  pioneers  approached  the  eastern 
flank  of  the  Sierras  in  the  rush  to  be  first  into  the  coveted  gravels, 
they  began  to  scatter  and  thus  were  compelled  to  use  poorer,  less 
traveled  trails  both  up  the  slopes  and  through  the  passes  of  the  crest. 
Having  passed  the  summit,  they  scattered  down  the  gulches  from  the 
Pitt  in  the  north  to  the  Tuolumne  in  the  south.  This  brought  them 
first  to  the  upper  ends  of  the  steep,  deep,  defiles  whose  floors  farther 
down  were  auriferous  gravels. 

These  northern  routes  were  beset  by  Indians.  As  long  as  the 
migration  consisted  of  the  fur-traders  and  an  occasional  settler,  the 
natives  cared  little;  but  when  the  glamor  and  attractiveness  of  gold 
brought  thousands  of  prairie  schooners  sailing  across  their  grounds 

*  Chittenden,  H.  M.     Early  Steamboat  Navigation  on  the  Missouri  River,  1903. 
Thittenden,  H.  M.     Hi«t.  of  Amer.,  Fur  Trade  of  The  Far  West,  1902. 
Fremont,  J.  C.     Report  of  The  Expl.  Exp.  to  Rocky  Mts.  in  1842,  &c.,  1845. 
Lewis  and  Clark.     Explorations  in  The  North  West. 
Parkman,  Francis.     The  Oregon  Trail. 
Semple,  E.  C.     Amer.  Hist,  and  Its  Geographic  Conditions,  1903. 


Factor  in  the  Migration  of  People  103 

in  one  summer,  and  when  towns  and  roads  and  all  that  drives  out 
wilderness  crowded  in  and  claimed  their  habitat,  they  became  rest- 
less, then  revengeful.  It  only  needed  the  lack  of  watchfulness  on 
the  part  of  the  government,  whose  attention  was  elsewhere  at  the 
time,  to  permit  the  outbreak  of  trouble  and  hostilities  beween  the 
Indians  and  the  settlers  in  1862. 

Those  who  came  by  the  southern  route  past  Sante  Fe,  along  the 
Gila  River  or  the  Spanish  Trail,  and  across  the  Colorado  River  at 
Yuma  into  Southern  California  had  to  endure  more  desert,  found  a 
warmer  climate,  less  rainfall,  less  forest,  and  had  no  great  altitudes 
to  traverse.  They  came  into  the  California  Valley  and  swung  north- 
westward through  the  tule-covered  swampland,  or  along  the  western 
foot  of  the  mountains,  and  entered  the  gulches  at  their  lower  or 
western  ends.  They  were  led  through  territory  already  appropri- 
ated by  Mexicans-;  and  after  the  first  summer,  had  not  only  the 
wicked  Apache  Indians  to  watch,  but  also  the  outlaw  or  the  expelled 
Mexican  miner  who  frequented  these  roads  and  robbed  the  traveler. 
Returning  miners  who  presumably  had  in  possession  at  least  samples 
of  California's  treasures,  proved  most  fascinating  bait.  Robbing 
became  quite  a  business  under  the  superior  temptation  presented  by 
the  returning  miners,  or  by  those  going  to  new  fields  with  their 
accumulated  wealth  in  their  belts.  And  not  only  was  robbery  com- 
mitted, but  occasionally  entire  parties  were  put  out  of  the  way  by 
outlaws  lurking  in  the  defiles  through  which  the  caravan  must  pro- 
ceed. In  California,  express  companies  abandoned  their  routes, 
because  their  goods  so  endangered  the  lives  of  their  drivers.  Rob- 
bing and  murder  were  not  local  features  but  occurred  on  most  of 
the  trails  and  even  on  the  highways  between  the  mines  and  their 
trading  centers. 

The  water  routes  worked  out  under  the  lead  of  gold  were  varied ; 
but  those  broken  at  the  Isthmus  gave  at  least  a  possibility  of  a 
shorter  time  period  than  either  the  overland  or  Cape  Horn  route, 
hence  they  were  always  overcrowded.  Until  1855,  when  the  Panama 
railroad  began  duty,  more  emigrants,  bound  for  California,  arrived 
at  the  Atlantic  ports  than  Isthmian  transportation  could  be  found 
for ;  and  many  more  succeeded  in  crossing  and  reached  the  western 
ports  than  could  find  passage  on  the  Pacific  vessels  to  California, 
partly  because  so  many  Pacific  ships  were  tied  up  at  San  Francisco. 
Consequently  hundreds,  probably  thousands,  were  delayed  between 
the  two  oceans,  and  became  the  prey  of  malarious  diseases,  which 
they  were  often  unable  to  shake  off,  and  therefore  were  never  able 


104  Precious  Metals  as  a  Geographic 

to  grasp  the  gold  they  were  seeking.  A  goodly  number  sailed 
around  Cape  Horn;  and  in  these  long  journeys,  subsisting  on  im- 
proper food,  ran  the  risk  of  scurvy  to  which  many  fell  victims.  By 
December,  1848,  the  stream  of  emigration  had  become  a  rush.  Ships 
were  loaded  at  almost  every  Atlantic  port.  Vessels  were  drawn 
from  the  whaling  business  and  from  all  kinds  of  trade  greatly  to 
the  disarrangement  of  other  commercial  lines.* 

GOLD  CREATED  GREAT  MIGRATION.  When  one  compares  the 
small  trickling  stream  of  migration  to  the  Far  West  prior  to  1848 
with  the  mighty  river  which  surged  through  the  passes  and  deluged 
the  deserts  between  1849  an^  1856,  he  arrives  at  an  expression  for 
the  magnitude  of  the  influence  emanating  from  the  California 
gravels.  Nor  should  the  numerical  response  alone  be  taken  as  the 
measure  of  the  influence.  The  obstacles  to  overcome,  because  the 
gold  occurred  in  a  far  away  mountain  wilderness,  were  gigantic; 
over  3,000  miles  by  land  for  the  far  easterner;  2,000  miles  for  the 
prairie  farmer ;  deserts,  sand  and  dust,  mountains  and  forest,  snows 
and  exposure,  three  or  four  months  of  severe  hardship  and  pri- 
vation ;  or,  if  by  water,  exposed  for  as  long  a  time  to  dangers  by 
sea ;  the  sacrifice  of  home  and  its  associations  and  comforts ;  the 
denial  of  friends,  business  and  pleasures ;  and  finally  the  expense  of 
all  this  journey  with  only  a  hope  at  the  end.  Truly,  tremendous, 
must  have  been  that  power  over  the  lives  of  men  to  induce  such 
enthusiasm  and  excitement,  and  to  make  men  willing  to  submit 
themselves  and  often  their  families  to  such  hardships.  Chittendenf 
justly  styles  the  movement  as  one  of  the  most  wonderful  migra- 
tions of  people  on  record. 

Those  going  by  sea  were  almost  entirely  from  the  coast  regions, 
while  those  of  the  interior  waited  for  spring  to  open  up  the  land 
route.  The  response  was  strongest  throughout  the  great  Missisippi 
Valley,  perhaps,  because  many  of  these  people  had  moved  once 
within  the  generation  and  were  thus  more  susceptible  to  the  moving 
.  fever  than  those  farther  east;  perhaps,  because  they  were  nearer 
the  gold  fields. 

Yet  not  only  did  the  people  of  the  eastern  United  States  catch 

*  H.  H.  Bancroft  (Hist,  of  Calif.,  Vol.  VI,  pp.  121-5)  gives  the  following  figures  attesting  the 
volume  of  emigration  from  Eastern  United  States  by  sea:  From  six  Atlantic  ports  between  the  dates 
of  December  14,  1848,  and  January  t8,  1849,  OI  vessels  carrying  an  average  of  50  persons  set  sail. 
In  the  month  of  February,  1849,  60  vessels  weighed  anchor  in  New  York  Harbor  loaded  with  California 
passengers,  and  70  more  in  the  harbors  of  Boston  and  Philadelphia.  During  the  winter  of  1849-50, 
250  vessels  sailed  from  Atlantic  ports  for  California,  45  of  which  arrived  in  San  Francisco  Bay  on  the 
same  day. 

tChittenden,  H.  M.    Early  Steamboat  Navigation  on  The  Missouri  River,  1903,  Vol,  I,  pp.  173,  4. 


Factor  in  the.  Migration  of  People  105 

the  gold  fever  and  respond  to  the  call ;  but,  in  the  latter  part  of  1848 
and  during  1849,  some  2,000  immigrants  reached  California  from 
Oregon  and  Washington;  and  by  July,  1849,  JS*000  foreigners  from 
Mexico,  Chili,  Peru,  and  other  Pacific  States  had  arrived.  New 
Holland,  Australia,  the  Marquesas  Islands,  and  even  China  each 
sent  its  quota.  Just  a  year  from  the  discovery  of  gold,  a  flood  of 
European  emigrants,  mostly  British,  arrived  to  try  their  fortunes.* 
In  fact,  nearly  every  civilized  land  was  represented  in  the  diggings 
of  California  during  the  course  of  the  first  five  years.  The  South- 
ern Appalachians  happily  sent  to  the  West  many  men  who  knew  the 
processes  of  placer  mining,  and  found  in  California  a  larger  free- 
dom in  which  local  mining  institutions  were  rapidly  developing.! 
European  mining  regions  sent  squads  of  miners  trained  in  con- 
servative methods  of  mining  and  disciplined  in  knowledge  of  camp 
life  and  organization,  who  contributed  both  to  the  common  fund  in 
their  adopted  country.  Many  miners  from  the  south  brought  along 
a  few  negroes,  thus  adding  another  element  to  the  ample  heter- 
ogeneity of  the  mass  collected  around  the  mining  centers  of  Cali- 
fornia. 

Japan's  stolidity  under  the  almost  universal  excitement  is  some- 
what remarkable;  but  it  is  asserted  by  Bancroft^  that  she  was 
almost  absolutely  indifferent  to  all  the  world's  bustle  and  flurry ;  and 
the  almost  total  absence  of  the  Japanese  from  California  until  many 
years  after  bears  silent  testimony  to  his  indifference.  With  China, 
the  case  was  very  different.  Either  in  direct  response  to  the  in- 
fluence of  gold  in  the  rocks,  or  else  with  a  desire  to  engage  in  some 
other  business  than  mining,  but  tributary  to  it,  her  people  came ; 
3  in  1848,  700  in  1849,  over  3'OO°  in  ^SO,  as  many  more  in  1851, 
and  about  10,000  in  1852,  so  that  by  the  opening  of  1853  at  ^east 
20,000  Chinese  were  in  the  State.  Then  the  incoming  rapidly  de- 
clined^ A  great  many  arrived  from  the  Hawaiian  Islands  and  easily 
became  the  menial  class.  They  were  accustomed  to  it,  and  were 
willing,  when  there  arose  a  need  for  such  work,  to  be  laborers  of  the 
lowest  class.  Moreover,  the  fact' that  gold  had  been  acquired  with 
simple,  cheap  equipment,  and  that  no  one  had  been  able  to  hire 
laborers  in  the  placers  for  what  such  laborers  easily  ran  the  chance 
of  making  when  working  for  themselves,  had  given  rise  to  a  uni- 

*  Patterson,  R.  H.     The  New  Golden  Age,  1882,  Vol.  I,  pp.  104,  5. 
t  Shinn,  C.  H.     Mining  Camps,  1885,  p.  40. 
%  Bancroft,  H.  H.     Hist,  of  Calif.,  Vol.  VI,  p.  124. 

§  Ibid.,  Vol.  VII,  p. 335  f;  Semple,  E.  C.,  American  History  and  its  Geographical  Conditiors, 
1903,  p.  319. 


106  Precious  Metals  as  a  Geographic 

versal  aristocracy  with  no  true  laboring  class.  When,  owing  to 
changed  mining  conditions,  such  a  class  became  necessary,  the  ports 
of  China  were  nearer  in  time,  expense,  and  hardship  than  were  the 
Eastern  States,  hence  the  Chinaman  stepped  in  and  became  the 
common  drudge.* 

Prior  to  the  discovery  of  gold  in  California,  the  Spanish-Mexicans 
were  coming  into  the  valley  in  greater  numbers  than  the  Americans. 
The  query  might  well  arise,  would  this  condition  have  continued, 
had  not  the  new  mining  industry  invited  the  thousands  to  immi- 
grate? And  had  it  continued,  would  not  the  Americans,  when  the 
time  came  for  their  expansion,  have  found  little  desirable  land  un- 
occupied? The  discoveries  seem  from  this  point  of  view  to  have 
been  very  timely. 

INCREASE  OF  POPULATION.  No  statement  of  the  increa'se  of 
population  in  California  will  portray  the  phenomenal  growth  better 
than  can  be  done  with  a  few  figures.  Each  year  before  1848,  a  few 
had  come  until,  by  the  summer  of  1845,  just  prior  to  any  emigration 
which  could  -possibly  be  ascribed  to  the  influence  of  gold,  the  State 
contained  2,000  Americans  and  as  many  Mexicans.  In  December 
of  the  same  year  there  were  6,000;  in  July  1849,  15,000  and  in  De- 
cember, 53,000.  In  June  1850,  the  total  white  population  was 
92,597  and  in  November,  1852,  according  to  the  census  taken  that 
month,  it  amounted  to  269,000,  of  which  about  30,000  were  Indians, 
20,000  Chinese  and  2,000  negroes.f  The  center  of  population  in 
the  United  States  migrated  81  miles  westward  during  the  decade 
1850-1860,  the  movement  being  about  50  per  cent,  larger  than  that 
of  preceding  decades,  and  a  result  of  the  emigrating  impulse  that 
was  filling  up  the  far  western  territory. 

This  same  phenomenal  growth  of  population  has  been  witnessed 
in  most  of  the  newly  discovered  gold  regions.  In  Alaska,  the  Nome 
coast  furnishes  an  illustVation  where  the  conditions  were  even  harder 
to  meet  than  those  of  California.  On  January  I,  1899,  a  ^ew  Eski- 
mo huts  and  one  or  two  sod  houses  for  white  men  were  the  only 
human  habitations  along  60  miles  of  coast.  In  June,  a  dozen  or 
score  of  tents  housed  the  entire  population,  and  in  October,  5,000 
whites  were  dwelling  on  the  beach.!  Another  illustration  comes" 
from  Australia.  Gold  was  discovered  in  Victoria  in  1851.  Previ- 
ous immigration  had  been  rapid,  but  at  this  time  it  took  a  sudden 

*  Semple,  E.  C.,  loc.  cit.,  p.  320. 

t  Patterson,  R.  H.  The  New  Golden  Age,  &c.,  Vol.  I,  pp.  108-9.  Shinn,  C.  H.  Mining  Camps, 
p.  132.  Abstract  i2th  Census  of  the  United  States,  pp.  32-33. 

t  U.  S.  G.  S.     Prelim.  Rept.  on  Cape  Nome  Region,  Alaska,  Brooks  &  Schrader,  p.  45. 


Factor  in  the  Migration  of  People  107 

leap.     In  1846.  Victoria  contained  33,000  people;  in  1851,  51,000; 
and  in   1854,  236,000.* 

OTHER  EFFECTS  ox  POPULATION.  This  rapid  growth  in  the 
number  of  people  was  not  the  only  effect  of  the  precious  metals  on 
the  population  of  the  West.  Society  was  masculine,  and  most  of 
the  men  were  under  forty  years  of  age.  Only  men  of  youth  and 
vigor  could  make  the  journey  or  bear  the  privations  and  exposure 
of  camp  life.  Wisely,  the  selection  in  the  main  occurred  in  the 
homes,  and  only  the  young,  healthy  men  started.  The  novelty  and 
wildness,  the  adventure  and  risk  of  the  journey  and  of  mining, 
appealed  to  the  young  men  more  than  to  those  who -were  rooted  in 
business  or  family.  Shinnf  says  there  were  but  15  women  in  San 
Francisco  in  the  Spring  of  1849.  There  were  many  camps  with 
none  at  all,  and  others  containing  but  one  family  among,  say  40 
single  men.  Perhaps  the  inequality  of  the  sexes  numerically  was 
greater  among  the  Chinese  than  among  any  other  nationality.  In 
August,  1852,  not  one  in  a  thousand  among  them  was  a  woman.t 
Bancroft,  after  discussing  the  manliness  and  strength  of  character 
of  the  men  who  came  under  the  influence  of  gold  mining  camp  life, 
remarks  that  "the  comparative  superiority  of  the  men  over  women 
is  an  expression  of  the  law  that  the  power  of  attraction  due  to  gold 
and  silver  does  not  tear  a\yay  from  civilized  and  cultured  comforts 
the  same  select  grades  of  both.  Nor  do  the  mining  habits  develop 
the  same  admirable  qualities  in  women  as  in  men.§  Even  in  the 
report  of  the  I2th  Census  1900,  there  is  shown  a  remarkable  differ- 
ence in  the  number  of  men  and  of  women  in  the  mining  States  of 
the  West,  a  condition  not  entirely  due  to  the  mining  industry,  but 
partly  to  the  fact  that  these  States  constituted  a  part  of  our  frontier. 
Table  I  summarizes  the  population  conditions  in  the  mining  States 
and  Territories  and  in  some  others.  In  Arizona,  Idaho,  Montana, 
Nevada,  Wyoming  and  Alaska  mining  constituted  a  larger  per  cent, 
of  the  total  industries  of  the  region  than  in  the  others,  and  here  the 
largest  percentages  of  male  population  were  found.  In  Utah, 
although  mining  constituted  a  considerable  portion  of  the  business, 
religious  influences  kept  the  percentage  of  males  lower  than  in  any 
other  State  west  of  the  Mississippi,  except  Louisiana.  Nevada 
presents  an  interesting  example.  In  1880,  her  population  was 
62,266 ;  and  it  has  been  declining  ever  since,  while  the  percentage  of 
females  has  been  increasing.  The  declining  industry  through  these 

*  Nicholson,  J.  S.    Effects  of  Great  Discoveries  of  Precious  Metals,  1887,  pp.  38-9.          +Ibid.,  p.  137. 

*  Bancroft,  H.  H.     Hist,  of  Calif.,  Vol.  VII,  pp.  335f.  %Ibid.,  p.  715. 


108 


Precious  Metals  as  a  Geographic 


twenty  years  is  that  of  mining.  It  seems  probable  that  the  miners 
who  are  going  to  other  places  are  single  men,  while  the  family  men 
in  other  occupations  are  remaining.  If  this  be  true,  it  emphasizes 
again  the  law  that  the  precious  metals  attract  for  workmen,  single 
men.  Should  it  be  charged  that  these  western  mining  States  pos- 
sess a  high  percentage  of  male  population,  simply  because  they  are 
on  the  frontier,  the  answer  comes  from  all  the  States  not  engaged 
in  this  kind  of  mining  whose  settlement  has  taken  place  mainly  since 
California  began  to  be  filled  up,  and  which  may,  for  this  reason,  be 
considered  pioneer  States.  Table  I,  part  B,  summarizes  the  con- 


TABLE  I. 


POPULATION  OF  GOLD  AND  SILVER  MINING  STATES 
CLASSIFIED  BY  SEX. 


STATE 

OR 

TERRITORY. 

POPULATION  1900. 

PERCENTAGE. 

MALE. 

FEMALE. 

TOTAL. 

MALE. 

FEMALE. 

Part  A 
Western   Division  

2,297,732 
7!,795 
820,531 
295,332 
93,367 
149,842 
25,603 
104,228 
177,493 
232,985 
216,164 
141,687 
304,178 
58,184 
45,872 

208,952 
768.716 
932,4Q° 
564-592 
214,359 

1,793,617 
51,  '36 
664,522 
244,368 
68,405 
93-487 
16.732 
91,082 
141,653 
180,551 
185,406 
135,062 
213,925 

34,347 
17,720 

183,108 
701.779 
818,904 
501,708 
183.972 

4,091,349 
122,931 
1,485.053 

539,7°° 
161,772 
243,329 
42,335 
i95-3'° 
319,146 
4'3-536 
401,570 
276,794 
518,103 
92.531 
63,592 

392,060 
1.470.495 

1,751-394 
1.066,300 

398,331 

56.2 
58.4 
55-3 
54-7 
57-7 
61.6 
60.5 
53-4 
55-6 
56.3 
53-8 
5'-2 
58.7 
62.9 
72.1 

53-3 
52-3 
53-2 
52.9 
53-8 

43-8 
41.6 
44-7 
45-3 

S3 
$1 

44.4 
43-7 
46.2 
48.8 
41-3 
37-1 
27.9 

46.7 
47-7 
46.8 
47.1 
46.2 

California  

Idaho 

Montana 

Nevada 

New  Mexico  
North  Dakota  
Oregon    

South  Dakota  

Utah 

Washington 

Wyoming  

Alaska  

Part  B 
Indian  Territory  
Kansas  ' 
Minnesota  

Nebraska 

Oklahoma  

ditions  in  five  of  this  class.  The  disparity  of  the  sexes  is  less  than 
half  as  great  in  these  five  as  in  the  eleven  western  states  and  terri- 
tories excluding  Alaska.  Inasmuch  as  Oklahoma  is  by  far  the 
most  newly  settled  of  all,  one  would  expect  to  find  it  approaching 
California;  but  while  it  has  the  greatest  inequality  of  any  of  the 
five,  it  is  as  far  from  California  as  from  Kansas,  the  state  of  the 
second  group  having  the  minimum  inequality. 

The  population  in  California  did  not  increase  as  fast  as  immigra- 
tion might  seem  to  warrant,  because  of  emigration  from  the  State 
to  new  gold  and  silver  deposits,  and  because  a  reaction  in  mining 
matters  set  in  after  about  five  years  of  rush  and  excitement.  The 
mania  had  run  its  course  and  was  abating.  It  was  influenced 
slightly,  too,  by  a  counter  attraction  in  the  Appalachian  mountains. 


Factor  in  the  Migration  of  People  109 

There  began  about  this  time  a  general  search  for  gold  throughout 
the  eastern  mountains.  Many  men  engaged  in  it;  and  under  the 
stimulus  of  Western  excitement,  mining,  as  well  as  prospecting,  re- 
vived in  the  East,  although  the  output  was  rather  decreased  at  first 
by  the  movement  westward  and  did  not  recover  for  ten  years.  An- 
other reason  why  California's  population  grew  slowly  after  1853,  is 
found  in  the  compulsory  exodus  of  a  large  number  of  Mexicans  and 
half  breeds  to  Mexico;  an  expulsion  deemed  necessary,  because  the 
lawlessness  of  the  Mexican  had  been  much  aggravated  by  the  con- 
ditions in  which  the  mining  had  placed  him;  and  made  possible, 
because  there  had  responded  to  the  call  to  come  West  so  many  more 
men  from  the  States  than  from  the  south.  The  foreign  population 
from  the  south,  however,  was  only  expelled  when  its  character  made 
it  an  undesirable  element.* 

PROSPECTORS  AND  RUSHES.  The  development  of  mining  evolved 
the  prospectors,  whose  whole  purpose  seems  to  have  been  to  roam 
about  and  unearth  new  deposits  of  treasure.  They  scattered  from 
the  camps  up  the  sides  of  the  gulches,  across  divides  laterally  and 
down  into  parallel  valleys,  or  out  at  the  upper  ends  of  valleys  and 
down  the  eastern  Sierra  slope.  Thus  other  gulches  and  their  con- 
tents became  known.  Men  worked  their  claims,  and  told  or  wrote 
to  their  friends  what  they  had  found,  or  so  described  it  that  similar 
deposits  were  identified  elsewhere.  Other  men  came  to  visit  the 
mines  and  camps,  and  after  a  little  examination  declared  that  they 
had  the  same  kind  of  stuff  at  home,  and  forthwith  proceeded  to 
prove  it.  By  these  exploratory  wanderings  the  extent  of  the  gold 
fields  of  California  became  known. 

The  prospector  wandered  out  of  the  State  and  into  others,  .made 
magnificent  finds,  or  told  of  finding  magnificent  things ;  and  im- 
mediately there  were  swarms  of  men,  urged  by  strong  desire,  who 
were  ready  to  leave  sure  things  for  the  possibility  of  something 
richer.  By  this  means  there  arose  many  local  or  even  inter-state 
migrations  of  considerable  bodies  of  men.  Whole  camps  became 
fired  with  something  akin  to  the  feeling  in  the  bosom  of  the  roving 
prospector,  but  differing  in  that  they  knew  where  they  were  going, 
while  the  prospector  never  knew.  Hundreds  of  rushes  of  men  from 
one  gulch  to  another  occurred,  thus  scattering  the  miners  in  all 
directions.  Camps  often  sprung  up,  mushroom  like,  in  a  night,  and 
flourished  a  few  months  or  even  a  year  or  two,  and  then  were  left 
deserted  and  abandoned,  because  the  builders  had  taken  a  new  attack 

*  Whitney,  J.  D.     Metallic  Wealth  of  the  U.  S.,  p.  137. 


110  Precious  Metals  as  a  Geographic 

of  the  gold  fever.  While  such  frequent  moves  were  usually  dis- 
astrous to  many  of  the  participants,  they  were  factors  of  progress ; 
and  their  final  result  was  an  ever  widening  benefit  to  the  state  and 
society,  because  they  increased  knowledge  both  of  land  and  mineral ; 
they  mixed  men  in  their  period  of  rapid  transformation  and  pre- 
vented local  sectionalism;  they  diffused  knowledge  of  methods  of 
mining  and  reducing  the  ores;  they  acquainted  men  with  several 
conditions  under  which  the  ore  occurred;  and  in  many  ways  made 
for  the  improvement  of  the  industry  and  the  more  uniform  develop- 
ment of  the  whole  western  region. 

Examples  of  significant  or  extensive  migrations  by  means  of 
rushes  are  easily  found  and  date  from  the  beginning  of  the  history 
of  western  gold  mining.  No  sooner  had  the  development  of  Cali- 
fornia's wealth  gotten  well  under  way  than  such  emigration  began. 
Sometimes,  the  particular  provocation  was  a  report  of  a  promising 
bonanza,  based  on  some  prospector's  discovered  "traces  of  gold;" 
sometimes,  it  was  a  day's  or  week's  hard  luck  in  the  home  beds  that 
sufficed  to  send  forth  the  restless  mirier.  In  the  Fraser  River  rush  of 
1858,  15,000  hardy  men  left  California  in  four  months,  and  other 
thousands  later.*  In  the  following  year,  thousands  went  to  the 
Cariboo  B.  C. ;  and  in  1860-1862,  a  multitude  hastened  to  Idaho  on 
the  Clearwater  and  Salmon  rivers.  The  Washoe  rush  occurred 
at  the  same  time.  During  1860-1862,  Nevada  sagebrush  deserts 
and  treeless  mountains  proved  attractive,  and  California  miners  be- 
gan to  gather  treasures  from  Humboldt,  Esmeralda,  etc.  In  1862, 
a  rush  to  Boise,  Idaho,  occurred  ;f  in  1863,  to  Owyhee ;  in  1864,  to 
Alturas;  to  Big  Bend  of  the  Columbia  in  1865,  and  to  White  Pine 
in  1866.  California  lost  to  these  regions  in  the  last  three  or  four 
of  these  years  30,000  to  40,000  men.  Nor  did  all  in  each  new  place 
come  from  the  one  State ;  for  the  later  rushes  were  made  up  in  part 
of  men  who  had  become  accustomed  to  rush,  and  in  part  of  men 
fresh  from  the  East,  as  well  as  of  those  who  were  leaving  Cali- 
fornia for  the  first  time.  Rushing  into-  new  territory  was  not 
confined  to  the  early  days  but  continued  down  to  the  present  century. 
Nor  was  it  a  feature  of  American  mining;  for  Australia,  in  the 
fifties,  had  many  wild,  exciting  rushes  and  occasional  examples  all 
along,  until  the  famous  West  Australia  excitements  in  the  nineties, 
of  'which  the  Siberia  rush  was  perhaps  the  most  notable. t  Klondike 
in  the  later  nineties,  and  Nome  in  1899  and  1900  with  Thunder 

*  Bancroft,  H.  H.     Hist,  of  Calif.,  Vol.  VII,  pp.  682-3. 

t  Bancroft,  H.  H.     Hist,  of  Wash.,  Idaho  and  Montana,  pp.  4o6f;  418. 

%  Amer.  Inst.  Min.  Eng.,  1898,  p.  496. 


Factor  in  the.  Migration  of  People  111 

Mountain,  Idaho,  in  1901-2  bring  the  rush  down  nearly  to  the  pres1 
ent.  The  surficial  nature  of  the  gold  occurrence  in  placers  seems 
directly  responsible  for  this  peculiar  character  of  migrations.  Quartz 
deposits  do  not  elicit  the  phenomenon,  because  it  takes  capital  and 
machinery  to  get  anything  out  of  them,  and  the  single  handed  miner 
with  rapid  development  ideas  can  do  nothing.  In  this  shifting 
about,  many  became  discouraged  with  mining  and  turned  to  other 
occupations,  as  they  found  suitable  localities  for  grazing  or  culti- 
vating. Almost  all  occupations  were  recruited  from  among  the 
miners,  as  they  had  contributed  to  that  class. 

Rushing  not  only  gave  an  impetus  to  all  the  Western  States,  but 
by  this  form  of  migration  miners  overflowed  into  British  Columbia 
and  even  into  Northern  Mexico,  teaching  the  Mexicans  better 
methods  of  working.  They  affiliated  with  them,  fought  Indians  for 
them,  and  prepared  the  way  for  closer  international  relations.*  The 
wandering  miners  even  spread  into  South  America,  Alaska,  Aus- 
tralia, and  the  Transvaal,  from  all  of  which  our  own  Western  States 
have  now  received  miners ;  and  carried  with  them  their  laws  and 
customs  as  well  as  methods  of  working.  Often  the  transported 
Yankee  mining  notions  were  unworkable  in  the  new  conditions ; 
but  the  ingenuity,  which  responded  to  the  former  conditions,  was 
again  sufficient  to  devise  something  that  would  work,  and  so  the 
diffusion  of  ideas  went  on  working  beneficence  all  the  way  as  surely 
as  did  those  Crusades  of  the  olden  days. 

REFLEX  WAVE  OF  MIGRATION'.  The  fact  that  the  first  great  dis- 
coveries of  gold  and  silver  in  the  United  States  were  very  near  the 
western  coast,  and  that  subsequent  disclosures  were  made  at  vary- 
ing distances  inland,  led  to  the  reflexing  of  the  wave  of  migration 
and  development.  All  focussed  on  California  for  a  few  years;  then 
other  discoveries  were  made,  in  Oregon  in  1852,  Washington  in 
I855,t  with  Arizona  in  1858,  Nevada  in  1859,  and  Idaho  in  1860  or 
1862,$  completing  the  semi-circle  around  the  first  State.  Colorado, 
a  little  out  of  time,  was  found  to  be  rich  jn  gold  in  1859  by  men 
enroute  to  California ;  and  there  followed  a  ra,pid  immigration  from 
the  West  as  well  as  from  the  East.  Other  valuable  deposits  were 
revealed  in  Idaho  in  1861  and  1863.  Montana  started  the  second 
semi-circle  in  1860  and  1862,  and  possibly  in  1858,  which  New 
Mexico  in  1860;  and  Utah  in  1867  completed.  Then  came  the  out- 
posts of  South  Dakota  in  1876  and  Alaska  in  1880.  The  dates  of 

*  Sh;nn,  C.  H.     Mining  Camps,  pp.  291-2. 

t  Bancroft,  H.  H.     Hist,  of  Wash.,  Idaho  and  Mont.,  p.  108. 

%Ibid.,  p.  406.     Eggleston,  Edw.     United  States  and  Its  People,  1888,  pp.  75-77. 


112  Previous  Metals  as  a  Geographic  Factor 

•admission  to  statehood  confirm  this  truth  and  illustrate  still  further 
the  influence  of  the  mining  industry.  California,  the  first  western 
State  to  receive  the  honor,  entered  the  Union  in  1850.  Oregon  and 
Nevada,  two  adjoining  States,  followed  in  1859  and  1864,  respec- 
tively. Although  Utah's  population  was  sufficient  before  1870  to 
admit  her  with  her  semi-circle,  for  other  reasons  she  was  detained 
until  1896.  In  1889  and  1890,  the  second  semi-circle,  begun  ab- 
normally by  Colorado  in  1876  (already  an  important  mining  State), 
was  completed  by  the  admission  of  Wyoming,  Montana,  Idaho  and 
Washington.  South  Dakota  was  admitted  in  1889,  also,  but  not 
primarily  on  account  of  the  mining  population.  Arizona,  due  in  the 
sixties,  and  New  Mexico  due  with  Idaho  and  Wyoming,  did  not 
gain  statehood  until  a  very  recent  date.  Their  interests,  although 
mostly  mining,  were  relatively  slight;  and  their  populations  con- 
sisted, beside  the  miners,  mostly  of  Mexicans  and  Indians.  As  the 
widening  waves  of  discovery  spread  from  California  as  a  center,  so 
the  wave  of  migration  set  in  the  same  direction;  and  in  the  course 
of  thirty  years,  with  constant  additions  from  the  East,  had  beaten 
back  across  all  the  mountains,  setting  in  motion  the  machinery  of 
development  in  every  State.* 

*  Chittenden,  H.  M.    Early  Steamboat  Navigation  on  The  Missouri  River,  1903,  Vol.  II,  pp.  265$. 


Reprinted  from  The  Scottish  Geographical  Magazine  for  September  1910. 


THE  PRECIOUS  METALS  AS  A  GEOGRAPHIC  FACTOR  IN  THE 
SETTLEMENT  AND  DEVELOPMENT  OF  TOWNS  IN  THE 
UNITED  STATES.1 

By  GEORGE  D.  HUBBARD. 

Classes  of  Towns  and  Settlements. — In  other  papers  the  relation  of  the 
discovery  and  distribution  of  the  precious  metals  to  the  movements 
of  the  people  has  been  discussed,2  movements  both  for  the  purpose  of 
exploration,  and  of  engaging  in  more  or  less  fixed  occupations.  Here, 
the  kinds  of  habitations  and  settlements,  and  the  nature  of  the  com- 
munity groups  formed  where  the  influence  of  gold  and  silver  was  strong, 
will  be  treated.  There  were  in  the  mining  regions  of  the  West 
camps  and  towns  of  all  degrees  of  permanence,  from  the  group  of 
tents,  staked  for  one  or  two  nights'  lodging,  to  the  substantial  and  well- 
ordered  city.  There  were  mining  camps,  commercial  centres,  and  out- 
fitting stations,  and  towns  and  cities  primarily  for  other  purposes  than  to 
minister  to  the  gold  and  silver  mining  industry.  And  not  only  the 
camps  and  towns,  but  the  distribution  of  people  and  the*  character  of 
rural  settlements  often  show  the  effects  of  gold-  and  silver-mining. 
Probably  every  hamlet,  town,  and  city  in  the  whole  West  has  been  more 
or  less  modified  under  the  powerful  touch  of  the  precious  metals.  Many 
would  never  have  been  at  all ;  others  would  not  have  been  so  great ;  and 
possibly  a  few  would  have  been  of  more  importance ;  but  each  certainly 

1  This  paper  was  prepared  as  a  part  of  the  requirements  for  the  doctor's  degree  in 
geography  at  Cornell  University.     Thanks  are  hereby  given  to  Prof.  R.  S.  Tarr,  Prof.  W.  F. 
\Villcox,  and  Prof.  H.  Ries.  whose  valuable  suggestions  aided  ill  giving  it  any  virtue  it  may 
possess.    [It  was  also  submitted  to  Section  E  (Geography)  at  the  Winnipeg  Meeting  of  the 
British  Association  (cf.  vol.  xrr.  p.  579).— ED.  S.  G.  J/.] 

2  Bull.  Amer.  Geog.  Society,  vol.  xlii.,  1910. 


450  SCOTTISH   GEOGRAPHICAL   MAGAZINE. 

bears,  in  its  character  and  development,  marks  of  the  moulding  influence 
of  this  powerful  industry. 

A  number  of  causes  operated  to  determine  the  nature  and  life-history 
of  a  miner's  settlement.  Its  purpose  probably  functioned  first.  If  it 
was  to  be  a  camp  in  a  gulch,  whither  men  had  been  collected  hurriedly 
to  wash  auriferous  gravel,  the  signs  of  permanence  were  few  or  entirely 
wanting ;  if  it  was  a  centre  of  extensive  or  expensive  mining  of  complex 
ores,  it  had  to  be  more  enduring ;  if  it  was  to  be  a  provisioning  centre 
for  a  group  of  diggings,  it  took  on  a  somewhat  fixed  character  and  was 
classed  as  a  town ;  if  it  was  to  be  a  commercial  centre  and  the  outfitting 
headquarters  where  new  arrivals  by  land  or  water  were  to  enter  the 
region,  its  buildings  were  of  a  still  more  substantial  kind,  and  its  plan 
better  worked  out.  But  the  first  classification  has  not  always  been 
maintained.  Founders'  plans  have  often  gone  far  astray,  because  not  in 
harmony  with  the  conditions. 

Conditions  and  Character  of  Camps. — Camp  conditions  have  been  por- 
trayed by  many  writers  from  earliest  mining  days  to  the  present.1  In 
some  respects  the  conditions  differ  widely  then  and  now,  owing  partly  to 
differences  in  the  kind  of  men  who  come  to  the  camp ;  but  in  many 
respects  there  are  characteristic  resemblances.  Placer  mining  conditions 
will  be  treated  first,  hence  the  following  paragraphs  are  more  applicable 
to  the  earlier  mining  days.  Shelter  was  nothing  more  than  shelter  of 
the  simplest  kind ;  even  rude  houses  in  the  early  days  were  rarely  built ; 
but  in  recent  times  adjacent  saw-mills  make  them  possible  in  many 
places.  The  flimsy  board  shanty,  the  tent,  stakes  with  a  canvas  cover, 
booths  of  branches,  and  often  simply  the  thick  branches  of  a  standing 
tree,  were  all  the  miner  took  time  to  construct  or  appropriate.  The 
warm  and,  for  the  most  part,  dry  climate  of  California,  where  the  gold 
first  called  for  dwellers,  made  it  possible  to  live  with  almost  no  shelter  in 
summer,  while  severe  winters  sometimes  drove  the  miner  entirely  out  of 
the  gulch.  The  shelters  stood  right  in  the  gulch,  or  along  the  bar  that 
was  to  be  mined,  as  near  as  might  be  to  the  work  that  was  to  be  done ; 
sometimes  in  the  way  of  future  operations,  sometimes  arranged  along  a 
single  street  or  path,  sometimes  irregularly  scattered  along  the  side  of 
the  valley.  Planning  a  camp  was  usually  not  thought  of.  The  men 
were  too  full  of  the  present  to  plan  for  the  future,  and  of  self  to  think  of 
the  convenience  of  orderly  construction.  Their  equipment  consisted  of  a 
blanket  or  two  apiece  for  the  occupants,  a  frying-pan  and  a  few  other 
culinary  or  table  utensils,  a  few  boxes,  bags  or  bundles  of  eatables,  and, 
after  matters  were  started,  an  empty  box  or  two. 

The  element  of  camp  permanence  was  at  first  very  small  in  any 
locality,  especially  in  the  early  days.  This  grew  out  of  several  condi- 
tions. The  first  work  was  usually  done  on  gravels  or  ledges  whose 
output  was  uncertain,  and  whose  quantity  of  pay-dirt  or  ore  was  never 
known  until  it  was  practically  exhausted.  Men  expected  to  mine  what 

i  T.  A.  Barry  and  B.  A.  Patten,  San  Francisco  in  the  Spring  0/1850,  1873.  H.  H.  Ban- 
croft,  History  of  California,  1884.  7  vols.  Bret  Harte,  Many  Poems  and  Stories  of 
Western  Life.  See  Works.  C.  H.  Miller  (Joachin),  Poems,  1882.  Bayard  Taylor,  Eldorado, 
1857. 


PRECIOUS  METALS  AS  A  GEOGRAPHIC  FACTOR  IN  UNITED  STATES.   451 

was  there,  and  move  on.  Then  the  miners  were  anxious  to  make  the 
most  of  every  moment.  The  time  lost  in  building  a  house  put  one  far 
in  the  rear.  A  third  reason  was  the  excitement  induced  in  most  camps 
by  the  gold.  It  was  not  a  matter  of  reason  whether  to  build  or  to  mine. 
Hardly  any  one  who  entered  a  camp  could  keep  from  using  a  pick  and 
shovel.  The  temptation  to  mine  was  too  strong  to  be  resisted  for  the 
sake  of  a  little  more  present  comfort.  Fourth,  the  great  disparity  of  the 
sexes,  a  fact  already  traceable  largely  to  the  geographic  conditions  under 
which  the  gold  occurred,  was  in  turn  a  cause  of  the  spirit  of  unrest  and 
the  free  movement  from  place  to  place.  If  a  single  man  thought  he 
could  do  better  elsewhere,  he  was  free  to  go  and  try.  Again,  the 
simple  methods  of  mining,  begotten  of  the  conditions  of  occurrence, 
favoured,  for  two  reasons,  the  moving  about  from  gulch  to  gulch.  In 
the  first  place,  throughout  the  California  placers  the  conditions  and 
requirements  were  so  similar  that  no  one  need  stop  after  moving  to 
learn  new  methods.  Secondly,  for  placer  mining  one's  whole  outfit 
could  be  tied  up  in  a  blanket  and  carried  to  a  new  place.  This  condition 
disappeared  when  the  more  complicated  processes  came  into  use,  but  in 
the  early  history — in  the  placer  stage — permanent  settlements  were 
almost  out  of  the  question.  And  had  there  been  only  placer  deposits, 
the  boom  of  any  State  or  region  would  have  been  ephemeral. 

There  was  little  division  of  labour.  Nor  was  there  a  labouring 
class ;  everybody  was  a  proprietor.  Because  education  and  experience 
counted  for  little — so  simple  was  the  mining  process,  and  so  blind  the 
clue  to  rich  pockets — professors  of  geology,  newspaper  men,  lawyers, 
physicians,  sailors,  masons,  accountants,  and  farmers,  all  worked  side  by 
side.  Because  of  this  same  simplicity  in  mining  process,  and  the  oppor- 
tunity for  any  one  to  "strike  it  rich,"  the  poor  man  preferred  to  work 
independently  and  run  all  risks  rather  than  to  hire  out  and  thus  be  sure 
of  what  the  rich  man  was  able  to  pay.  And  the  rich  man  was  compelled 
to  work  himself  because  he  could  not  afford  to  hire.  He  could  not  pay 
what  the  labourer  with  his  chance  for  success  thought  he  could  make 
alone.  All  this,  with  the  common  risk  and  speculation  and  the  universal 
gold-begotten  excitement,  tended  to  produce  the  social  equality  of  the 
camp,  so  marked  a  feature  of  the  early  California  days. 

In  spite  of  the  social  equality,  however,  some  division  of  labour  arose 
early.  Those  who  had  an  eye  to  business,  and  were  willing  to  forego 
the  thrill  of  plucking  the  yellow  rock  from  the  gravels,  and  at  the  same 
time  to  avoid  the  exposure  incident  to  actual  mining,  engaged  in  other 
occupations  as  essential  to  the  success  of  the  camp  as  mining,  and  often 
more  certainly  lucrative.  Some  entered  the  carrying  trade.  A  man  and 
a  mule  sometimes  made  83000  in  a  month.  Three  Yankees  established 
a  ferry  across  the  San  Joachin  river,  and  took  from  8500  to  SI 000  daily. 
They  charged  82  for  carrying  a  man  and  horse  across.1  It  was  not 
extortion  to  charge  such  prices  and  reap  the  reward  thereof.  The  miners 
were  making  money  as  rapidly  and  were  perfectly  willing  to  pay.  The 
shrewd  non-miners  simply  hit  upon  an  occupation  for  which  the  condi- 

1  Bayard  Taylor,  Eldorado,  1857,  pp.  75,  98. 


452  SCOTTISH   GEOGRAPHICAL   MAGAZINE. 

tions  gave  a  ready  market.  Keenness  for  gold  was  an  element  of  the 
atmosphere  in  which  society  moved. 

Frequently  one  member  of  a  camp  ran  a  gambling  establishment, 
and  every  town  had  an  abundance  and  variety  of  gaming-tables. 
After  1848,  robbers,  camp-thieves,  horse-thieves,  and  lawless  characters 
were  to  be  found,  but  Shinn  l  says  that  there  was  probably  less  crime 
in  California  during  the  first  summer  than  in  any  summer  before  or 
since.  This  fact  has  been  attested  by  a  number  of  writers,  and  is 
probably  due  to  several  causes.  Most  of  the  men  were  near  home,  and 
were  among  friends  and  neighbours ;  the  foreign  elements  had  not  yet 
arrived,  because  the  influence  of  the  metal  had  not  yet  gone  far.  An 
excitement,  a  sort  of  spell,  was  over  the  region.  The  fascination  and 
witchery  of  gold-mining  held  universal  sway.  Every  one  was  anxious 
to  see  what  would  develop.  He  preferred  to  be  out  knocking  about  in 
the  ravines  to  find  a  bigger  pile  than  his  neighbour,  than  to  be  robbing 
him  of  his  find.  Then,  too,  theft  was  made  a  capital  offence  in  many 
districts.  It  was  very  easy  to  take  a  thousand  dollars  from  the  gravel, 
and  many  times  safer  than  to  take  it  from  some  miner's  tent.  Further, 
there  was  a  romance  in  recovering  such  valuables  from  the  stream-beds. 
It  is  no  wonder  that  there  was  so  little  theft  during  these  early 
months. 

Owing  to  the  freedom  and  the  independence  of  endeavour  in  the 
mining  camps,  each  man's  will  and  power  was  his  law.  Disputes  and 
quarrels,  even  duels  and  murders,  occurred  in  the  camps,  but  were  not 
common.  As  a  rule  the  early  camps  were  much  more  peaceable  than 
would  be  expected.  In  recent  times  lawless  tendencies  are  even  less 
violent  than  in  the  fifties.  Two  reasons  seem  to  explain  the  fact :  (a) 
Law  and  order  are  not  now  in  the  hands  of  the  camp,  but  are  functions 
of  the  State  and  local  civil  organisation,  because  these  institutions  have 
had  time  to  develop  over  most  of  the  West;  (b)  Camps  as  such  are 
largely  replaced  by  towns  gathered  around  some  huge  mining  and 
reducing  plant,  which  location  gives  the  place  a  feeling  of  permanence 
and  security.  Of  course,  many  times  the  rough  brute  side  of  human 
nature  displays  itself  vehemently,  but  respect  for  law  by  loyal  citizens 
is  the  rule  not  the  exception. 

The  tendency  to  fast  living,  a  product  of  extreme  optimism  and 
unbounded  faith  in  mining,  is  still  found  in  mining  camps  and  towns ; 
but  it  is  not  so  strong  as  in  the  early  days  in  the  newness  and  wonderful- 
ness  of  the  whole  episode.  Men  made  their  money  easily  and  rapidly ; 
they  were  in  the  exuberance  of  young  manhood.  They  were  away 
from  family,  and  even  civil  restraint ;  they  were  excited,  feverish,  often 
delirious  with  the  infatuation  for  gold,  and  were  not  themselves. 
Besides,  the  tendency  to  fast  living  often  expressed  itself  in  drunken- 
ness and  gambling. 

Special  Types  of  Camps. — Special  local  conditions  gave  rise  to  camps 
of  peculiar  character.  The  Southern  Appalachian  region  and  places  in 
the  arid  region  will  illustrate  this  point.  In  Georgia  and  the  eastern 

1  C.  H.  Shinn,  Mining  Camps:  A  Study  in  American  Frontier  Government,   1885, 
pp.  119,  120. 


PRECIOUS   METALS   AS   A   GEOGRAPHIC   FACTOR   IN   UNITED    STATES.       453 

States  generally,  the  gold  was  discovered  in  well-settled  and  organised 
regions,  and  among  many  other  occupations,  where,  because  of  the 
scarcity  of  gold,  mining  had  to  remain  a  minor  industry.  Hence  men 
worked  in  the  mines  and  gravel  deposits  between  other  regular  work, 
but  did  not  follow  the  business  all  the  year  round.1  They  could  make 
more  on  their  farms  in  the  growing  season  than  from  the  mines  with 
their  low  grade  ores ;  and,  therefore,  the  camps  were  occupied  only 
intermittently.  At  present,  however,  expensive  mining  and  reduction 
plants  which  operate  all  the  year  round  have  been  introduced  at  several 
mines. 

Another  intermittent  type  of  camp  occurs  in  some  places  in  the  arid 
south-west.  Gold  gravels  occur  in  stream-beds  where  the  flow  of  water 
is  not  continuous.  A  heavy  downpour  of  rain  may  give  the  creeks  a 
sudden,  strong  flow,  which  gradually  dwindles  to  nothing,  to  be  revived 
months  later  by  the  next  heavy  shower.  During  the  dry  season  the 
men  go  up  the  ravines  and  get  a  large  quantity  of  gravel  out  ready  to 
sluice  when  the  water  comes.  Then  they  return  to  the  valley  farms 
or  ranches,  and  work  at  something  else  till  the  approach  of  rain.  On  its 
arrival  all  hands  break  for  the  sluices  and  wash  gravel  as  long  as  the 
flow  of  water  permits..  Occasionally  the  signs  of  rain  are  good,  and  the 
men  hurry  to  the  gravel  piles  only  to  find  that  there  is  not  enough  rain 
to  reach  their  diggings ;  or  the  storm  comes  in  the  night,  and  the  water, 
having  no  one  to  control  or  use  it,  sweeps  away  the  accumulations  of 
months,  and  all  is  lost.  Mining  is  the  industry  the  men  are  there  for, 
but  owing  to  the  special  climatic  and  geographic  conditions  they  cannot 
follow  it  continuously.  These  peculiar  conditions  of  camp  life  and  work 
are  not  common  enough  to  effect  the  total  output,  but  they  illustrate 
one  phase  of  geographic  influence  on  the  character  of  the  camps. 

Succession  of  Camp  Occupancy. — In  the  normal  order  of  things  in  the 
gold-mining  States,  the  prospector  has  always  been  the  first  man  on  the 
ground.  During  the  early  days  his  voluntary  services  opened  the  way 
for  the  miner  and  the  capitalist.  He  found  and  marked  the  deposit; 
miners  began  its  development ;  capital  came  and  bought  as  cheaply  as 
possible;  but  the  capitalist  himself  rarely  searched  for  the  deposits. 
In  modern  times  the  function  of  the  prospector,  with  his  peculiar 
training  and  development,  is  well  recognised.  Many  of  the  large  mining 
companies  employ  prospectors  whose  sole  business  is  to  scour  the  hills 
and  ravines  for  more  gold,  silver,  or  copper.  Of  the  several  types  of  men 
developed  under  the  special  conditions,  each  finds  place  in  the  changing 
economy  of  gold  and  silver  mining.2 

Development  of  Permanent  Camps. — In  harmony  with  the  permanence 
of  form  assumed  by  the  industry,  the  permanence  of  camps  increased. 
While  all  the  work  in  a  region  was  placer  mining,  the  camp  could  not 
take  on  an  enduring  character ;  but,  as  the  processes  inevitably  changed 
in  many  localities  from  the  elementary  operations  of  washing  gravel  to 
the  more  advanced,  complicated,  and  expensive  methods  necessarily 


1  J.  D.  Whitney,  Metallic  Wealth  of  the  United  States,  p.  118. 

2  H.  H.  Bancroft,  History  of  California,  1884,  vol.  vii.  p.  655. 


454  SCOTTISH   GEOGRAPHICAL  MAGAZINE. 

employed  in  quartz  mining,  and  in  the  extraction  of  values  from  even 
more  complex  ores  of  silver,  very  naturally  more  fixed  camps  and 
habitations  sprang  up  around  the  more  stable  establishments.  In  some 
cases  vigorous,  substantial,  well-organised  towns  have  developed  from 
these  flimsy,  temporary  beginnings.  Butte,  Montana,  a  placer  town  of 
shabby  miners'  cabins  in  1864,  was  given  a  copper  smelter  in  1866,  and 
began  its  more  extensive  development  in  1875.  Five  years  later  it 
had  become  a  substantial  town  of  5000  people,  and  its  population  had 
doubled  again  by  1885.1  In  1900  Butte  contained  over  30,000  people. 
Leadville,  Colorado,  with  its  predecessor  Oro,  furnishes  another  example. 
This  now  important  mining  centre  rose  in  three  years  from  nothing  in 
1877,  through  the  placer  stage  to  a  town  of  15,000  people  in  1880,  and 
that  in  a  wilderness  at  an  altitude  of  10,000  feet.  It  all  came  in 
response  to  the  impetus  of  silver  and  associated  ores.2  Cripple  Creek, 
Colorado,  and  Deadwood,  South  Dakota,  with  a  number  of  smaller  purely 
mining  towns  possessing  a  permanent  character,  may  be  added  to  the 
list.  Potosi,  in  Bolivia,  sprang  up  from  almost  nothing,  under  the 
influence  of  the  exceedingly  rich  silver  mines  of  the  mountain,  to  a  city 
of  160,000  inhabitants,  and  this  at  an  altitude  greater  than  that  of  Mt. 
Blanc.  The  result  was  marvellous,  and  would  have  called  forth  comment 
even  had  it  occurred  under  favourable  circumstances,  but  under  the 
actual  conditions  it  scarcely  seems  in  the  realm  of  the  possible.3 

Virginia  City,  located  on  the  Comstock  lode,  has  been  in  character 
a  permanent  city  from  its  foundation,  because  it  was  built  in  connection 
with  the  development  of  the  great  silver-gold  mine  below  it.  Many  of 
the  difficulties  in  the  way  of  the  development  of  the  mines  restrained 
city  building.  But  a  city  must  be  had,  because  the  mining  required  it. 
The  town  began  very  soon  after  the  discovery  of  the  lode  in  1858,  and, 
under  the  impetus  of  the  great  inrush  of  miners  and  others  from 
California,  grew  very  rapidly,  so  that  in  1870  and  1880  it  had  a  popula- 
tion of  about  10,000.  Its  supplies  had  to  come  by  wagon  from  California  ; 
its  lumber  for  buildings  over  sandy  wagon-roads  for  20  miles ;  its 
water-supply  was  at  first  brought  12  to  15  miles  in  wagons,  and  later, 
at  an  enormous  expense,  from  lakes  in  the  mountains  20  miles  away. 
No  agricultural  land  near  by  contributed  food,  for  all  around  was 
barren,  parched,  deserted  wilderness.  And  yet  the  city  rose  in  ten 
years  to  10,000  people. 

But  when  the  mine  ceased  to  produce,  because  the  great  obstacles  en- 
countered were  then  unconquerable,  the  city  declined,  and  it  is  now  but 
a  shadow  of  its  former  short-lived  greatness.  The  region,  although  once 
considerably  improved,  has  reverted  to  wilderness.  The  close  relation 
between  the  mining  industry  on  the  Comstock  lode  and  the  growth  and 
decline  of  Virginia  City  and  its  associates,  cannot  be  more  clearly  seen 
than  in  the  accompanying  Table. 


1  H.  H.  Bancroft,  History  of  Washington,  Idaho,  and  Montana,  1890,  pp.  740,  752,  764, 

2  R.  P.  Porter,  The  West  from  the  Census  of  1880, 1882,  p.  373.     United  States  Geological 
Survey,  Monograph  xn.,  pp.  14  ft  seq. 

3  J.  D.  Whitney,  Auriferous  Gravels,  1854,  p.  171. 


PRECIOUS    METALS   AS   A   GEOGRAPHIC   FACTOR   IN   UNITED   STATES.      455 


PRODUCTION  OF  COMSTOCK  LODE  AND  POPULATION  OF  THE  THREE  TOWNS 
IN  THE  VICINITY — VIRGINIA,  GOLD  HILL,  AND  SILVER  CITY. 


Date. 

Population 
(approximate).1 

Production  in  oz.2 

1859 

a  few 

30,000 

1860 

4,000 

1,000,000 

1870 

13,000 

3,000,000 

1877 

21,000 

36,000,000 

1880 

15,500 

5,000,000 

1881 

... 

1,000,000 

1890                   9,000  3 

5,000,000 

1900 

3,000  3 

1,000,000 

This  city  is  only  a  giant  of  a  common  type.  Towns  were  built 
hurriedly,  badly,  and  extravagantly,  as  the  mining  industry  grew,  because 
everybody  had  full  faith  in  the  prosperity  of  the  mine.  After  a  more  or 
less  successful  and  extended  boom,  the  mine  in  many  cases  began  to 
decline,  and  with  it  the  town.  Abandoned  claims,  camps,  and  towns  are 
to  be  found  all  through  the  Western  mountains,  and  every  year  adds 
to  the  list. 

Commercial  and  Outfitting  Centres. — A  class  of  places  in  very  close 
contact  with  purely  mining  camps  and  towns  contains  a  long  list  of 
distributing  and  outfitting  towns  all  over  the  West,  from  Denver  to  the 
Pacific.  Stockton  on  the  San  Joachin,  and  Sacramento  on  the  Sacra- 
mento, both  at  the  foot  of  the  slopes  leading  eastward  up  to  the  mouths 
of  the  Sierra  gulches  and  valleys,  were  two  of  the  earliest  of  the  class, 
and  will  serve  to  illustrate  their  characteristics.  Each  was  within  fairly 
easy  reach  of  a  number  of  mining  camps,  whose  wants  they  supplied. 
Each  had  water  communication  with  the  sea  and  with  that  greater 
emporium,  San  Francisco.  Each  sprang  up  at  a  point  where  goods  and 
people  could  no  longer  go  in  large  masses,  but  must  scatter  to  the 
individual  camps.  Merchandise  and  miners,  transferred  to  river  steam- 
boats at  San  Francisco,  were  carried  up  the  rivers  to  either  of  these 
places,  and  again  transferred  to  heavy  wagons  or  pack-animals,  and  then 
laboriously  hauled  out  to  the  various  camps. 

Stockton  was  a  canvas  town  in  1849,  but  also  a  commercial  centre 
making  very  perceptible  growth  in  the  course  of  a  week.  Taylor 4  pre- 
dicted its  success  as  a  distributing  point,  because  of  its  central  position 
and  means  of  transport.  The  mining  camps  demanded  a  centre  some- 
where in  the  vicinity,  and  this  point  had  the  requisite  position.  The 
enormously  rapid  increase  in  population  and  output  of  the  tributary 
mines  was  closely  followed  by  the  expansion  of  the  town.  Shinn  5  says 
it  increased  from  a  single  ranch  house  to  a  canvas  city  of  a  thousand 
people  in  three  months.  For  several  years  it  was  flooded  with  transients 
and  with  merchandise,  because  of  its  relation  to  the  camps.  People  and 


i  Becker,  Monog.  in.,  U.S.G.S.,  p.  4. 

3  Eleventh  Census. 

s  C.  H.  Shinn,  Mining  Camps,  1885,  p.  137. 


2  Lord,  Monog.  iv.f  U.S.G.S.,  p.  416. 
«  B.  Taylor,  Eldvrado,  1857,  pp.  98,  99. 


456  SCOTTISH   GEOGKAPHIOAL   MAGAZINE. 

goods  destined  for  camps  came  here  by  boat  faster  than  they  could 
be  despatched  to  the  gulches.  It  never  collapsed  so  completely  as  did 
others  when  the  mining  in  its  tributary  gulches  declined,  because  of  its 
early-developed  agricultural  interests. 

Sacramento  also  experienced  a  phenomenal  evolution.  In  April  1849 
there  were  four  houses  on  the  site ;  in  November  there  were  hundreds  of 
tents,  shanties,  and  respectable  houses  sheltering  ten  thousand  people, 
most  of  whom  were  transients,  some  just  arriving  in  California,  others 
returning  for  the  winter  from  their  summer's  digging.  The  town,  apart 
from  these  diverse  residences,  consisted  of  a  few  stores  and  large  platforms 
for  handling  freight,  which  were  clustered  along  the  river,  while  the 
unsightly  collection  of  abodes  was  scattered  along  the  flood  plain 
for  a  mile. 

Like  Stockton,  its  business  demanded  that  it  should  be  close  to  the 
stream,  and  therefore,  like  its  twin,  Sacramento  was  frequently  flooded 
by  the  sudden  rise  of  the  torrent-fed  river.  Its  hasty  construction,  due 
to  enormous  and  imperative  demands  for  greater  commercial  and  hostelry 
accommodation,  and  to  the  feverish  excitement  of  its  business  men, 
resulted  in  many  carelessly  built,  inflammable  structures.  Hence  fierce 
and  destructive  fires  ravaged  the  city.  Fabulous  prices  prevailed. 
Carpenters  struck  because  they  were  getting  only  $12  a  day.  This 
price  for  labour,  low  compared  with  that  in  San  Francisco,  was  due 
to  the  return  of  many  disappointed  miners  who  temporarily  overstocked 
the  market.1  Single  town  lots  were  held  at  from  one  to  three  thousand 
dollars,  when  scarcely  a  house  in  town  was  actually  worth  that  amount. 
As  the  time  passed,  buildings,  expensive  because  of  the  great  demand, 
the  cost  of  labour,  and  the  scarcity  and  expense  of  building  materials, 
quickly  replaced  the  tents  and  shanties.  Prices  were  pushed  too  high, 
business  became  unsteady;  the  town  surged  with  speculation,  and  became 
uproarious  with  traffic ;  profits  reached  100  per  cent,  above  rates  accepted 
in  San  Francisco,  and  rents  ruled  as  high  as  $5000  dollars  a  month 
for  moderate  buildings,  while  lots  crept  to  $30,000  in  the  summer  of 
1850.  In  September  1850  this  enormous  inflation  of  values  was  followed 
by  a  terrific  collapse.  Similar  crises,  though  less  tense,  arose  again 
in  this  city  and  in  other  commercial  centres.  Floods,  fires,  and  failures 
were  the  common  city  disasters.  Sacramento,  in  a  large  fertile  valley, 
did  not  experience  the  customary  collapse  on  the  waning  of  placer  mining, 
because  of  the  early  utilisation  of  the  agricultural  possibilities,  and 
because  of  its  position  as  the  State  capital.  It  is  to-day  the  capital,  and 
a  centre  of  considerable  trade  in  agricultural  supplies  and  products,  which 
far  outweighs  its  purely  mining  interests. 

Other  commercial  centres  of  this  class  are  Denver,  Walla  Walla, 
Lewiston,  Fort  Benton,  El  Paso,  and  even  Salt  Lake  City.  Denver 
is  said  to  have  sprung  from  a  stage  station  to  a  city  almost  in  a  night, 
while  a  long  line  of  mining  towns  rose  along  the  eastern  base  of  the 
Kockies.2  Walla  Walla  was  the  outfitting  station  for  the  camps  in  the 

1  B.  Taylor,  Eldorado,  1857,  pp.  220,  221. 

2  R.  P.  Porter,  The  West  from  the  Census  c/1880,  1882,  p.  373. 


PRECIOUS   METALS   AS   A   GEOGRAPHIC   FACTOR    IX   UNITED   STATES.       457 

rich  Boise  basin  and  Owyhee  valley,  and  Lewiston  supplied  the  Salmon 
and  Clearwater  valleys.1  Fort  Benton,  at  the  head  of  navigation  on  the 
upper  Missouri  river,  was  destined  to  be  a  commercial  centre  as  long  as 
river  traffic  continued  ;  but  its  character  as  an  outfitting  and  provisioning 
centre  was  determined  by  the  discovery  of  gold  in  Fergus  county,  and 
especially  in  the  mountains  west  of  the  fort.  The  place  was  but  a  fort 
and  fur-trading  station  prior  to  the  outbreak  of  Montana's  gold  fever,  but 
by  leaps  and  bounds  it  rose  to  the  rank  of  a  town,  and  even  bade  fair  to 
be  a  city  of  note  within  a  few  years.  The  impetus  of  the  mining  industry 
was  too  great  for  the  good  of  the  growing  town,  for  the  arrival  of  the 
Northern  Pacific  railroad,  required  just  at  this  time  and  place  by  the  new 
industry,  robbed  the  river  of  its  traffic,  and  at  the  same  stroke  removed 
Fort  Benton's  excuse  for  existence.  Hence  it  has  declined,  and  Great 
Falls  has  risen  as  a  manufacturing  and  smelting  centre.2  Seattle,  in 
Washington,  and  Vancouver,  British  Columbia,  bear  the  same  relations 
to  the  Alaskan  camps  that  the  above  towns  bore  to  their  respective 
regions. 

San  Francisco  and  the  Influence  of  Gold. — San  Francisco,  one  of  the 
largest  cities  on  the  Pacific  coast,  is  in  its  entirety  a  response  to  the 
influence  of  several  classes  of  environmental  elements.  Founded  in  1835 
by  an  Englishman  who  built  his  own  little  group  of  houses,  and  augmented 
in  the  following  year  by  the  single  structure  of  an  American,  the  great 
commercial  emporium  began  its  existence.  The  Hudson  Bay  Company 
took  advantage,  in  1841,  of  its  position,  and  established  a  branch  house. 
Its  growth  up  to  January  1848,  the  date  of  Sutter's  discoveries,  amounted 
to  about  two  hundred  houses  set  along  well  laid  out  streets  and  squares, 
with  a  population  of  less  than  a  thousand;  but  in  many  respects  it 
was  one  of  the  most  thriving  towns  in  California.  Its  people,  chiefly 
Americans,  were  hardy,  determined  pioneers — backwoodsmen,  artisans, 
seafarers,  traders,  and  a  few  professional  men.  The  town  never  was 
Mexican  although  under  Mexican  colours  at  the  start,  but  there  were  a 
few  scattered  Spanish-Mexican  mission  settlements  near.3 

The  locality  was  marked  by  Nature  for  a  commercial  centre,  and,  with 
the  elements  of  commerce  provided,  promised  to  be  a  metropolis.  It  lay 
on  the  only  natural  harbour  between  San  Diego  and  the  mouth  of  the 
Columbia,  and  almost  midway  between  them.  It  was  in  the  gateway  to 
a  rich,  fertile  valley  of  enormous  dimensions,  bathed  in  salubrious  air, 
a  valley  nearly  closed  to  the  east  by  mountain  and  desert  barriers,  and 
walled  in  on  all  sides  by  almost  continuous  ranges.  Other  harbours  south 
of  the  Columbia  had  less  of  value  in  their  hinterland.  It  of  necessity 
had  a  monopoly  of  the  trade  of  the  State  of  California.  Then  its  western 
outlook  was  toward  the  millions  of  the  Orient  just  on  the  verge  of  their 
awakening.  Naturally,  a  city  would  some  day  arise  on  this  bay.  Where 
would  it  be  1  The  farther  or  inland  side  was  too  shallow  for  sea-going 
vessels,  as  were  also  the  mouths  of  the  rivers.  The  north  side  of  the  gate- 

1  H.  H.  Bancroft,  History  of  Washington,  Idaho,  and  Montana,  1890,  pp.  406  et  seq. 

2  H.  M.  Chittenden,  Early  Steamboat  Navigation  on  the  Missouri  River,  1903,  vol.  i. 
p.  237. 

3  H.  H.  Bancroft,  History  of  California,  1884,  voL  vi.  pp.  6,  7. 


458  SCOTTISH   GEOGRAPHICAL  MAGAZINE. 

way  was  steep  and  rocky  ;  the  south  was  gently  rising,  and  on  the  eastern 
side  of  the  ridge,  between  the  bay  and  the  sea,  there  was  a  broad,  low 
area  stretching  along  the  coast  for  some  miles  with  depth  of  water  before 
it  sufficient  for  the  merchant  marine  of  those  days.  All  this  aided  in 
determining  the  spot.  Now,  in  1848,  all  was  like  a  great  machine  in 
place  in  the  mill,  but  with  no  grist  and  no  power.  California's  total 
American  white  population  was  about  two  thousand.  No  resources 
except  furs,  lumbering,  and  a  very  little  agriculture  were  known,  and 
these  were  undeveloped.  The  land  was  sparsely  settled,  unknown,  and 
insufficiently  watered  for  agriculture.  Moreover,  if  development  had 
depended  upon  the  normal  processes  of  migration  and  frontier  evolution, 
against  such  heavy  odds,  it  is  hardly  likely  that  fifty  years  would  have 
accomplished  what  was  done  in  five  or  six.1 

Suddenly  and  vehemently  came  the  impulse  which  created  excitement 
and  chaos  not  only  in  the  city  but  throughout  the  entire  State  and  even 
thousands  of  miles  beyond  her  undefined  boundaries.  Gold  was  found 
in  gravels  so  marvellously  productive  and  so  easily  worked,  that  anybody 
with  a  pick,  shovel,  and  pan  could  gather  from  ten  to  a  hundred  dollars 
worth  a  day,  and  ran  the  chances  of  finding  ten  times  as  much  in  one 
hour.  And  San  Francisco  had  a  corner  on  all  trade,  passenger  as  well  as 
freight,  for  all  the  developing  industry  of  valley  and  mountain-side  save 
that  which  crawled  slowly  across  country  in  wagons. 

Her  first  response  was  a  rush  of  almost  her  entire  population  to  the 
diggings  across  the  valley,  but  in  a  very  short  time  an  incoming  rush  of 
immigrants  replaced  the  loss.  From  less  than  1000  in  the  spring  of 
1848,  she  grew  to  15,000  in  the  early  fall  of  1849;2  from  a  group 
of  dwellings,  stores,  and  little  warehouses  she  became  a  great  commercial 
city ;  from  a  quiet  fur-trading  station  to  a  centre  of  international  trade 
and  cosmopolitan  enterprise  and  life.  Every  vessel  in  1849  brought 
passengers,  and  the  harbour  was  crowded  with  the  shipping  of  almost 
every  nationality.  Goods  and  provisions  were  hurried  to  her  wharves 
and  into  the  streets.  There  were  not  half  buildings  enough  to  house  the 
supply.  Tents,  and  canvas  or  rubber-covered  frames,  piles  of  empty 
boxes,  sheds,  houses  enclosed  on  three  sides,  and  buildings  in  every  stage 
of  construction,  and  of  every  conceivable  cheap  pattern,  might  be  found. 
From  fifteen  to  thirty  houses  were  built  in  a  day.  At  least  seventy-five 
were  imported  from  Canton  and  were  erected  by  Chinese  labour.  Streets 
stretched  out  up  the  hill  to-day  ;  and  to-morrow  their  flanks  were  cleared 
of  chapparal,  hemmed  in  by  a  double  row  of  houses,  and  thronged  with 
people  and  goods.  New  warehouses  sprang  up,  and  new  piers  were 
reaching  farther  and  farther  out  into  the  thickening  and  enlarging  forest 
of  masts  ;  and  the  noise,  motion,  and  bustle  of  business  and  labour  were 
incessant.3  And  all  this  in  a  place  where  lumber  and  even  houses  were 
imported ;  where  a  year  before  there  was  not  even  a  saw-mill ;  where 
agriculture  had  no  footing,  and  civil  organisation  scarcely  existed ;  where 

1  J.  S.  Nicholson,  Effects  of  Great  Discoveries  of  the  Precious  Metals,  1887,  pp.  38,  39. 

2  B.  Taylor,  Eldorado,  1857,  pp.  203-5. 

3  Ibid.,  pp.  109,  110. 


PRECIOUS  METALS  AS  A  GEOGRAPHIC  FACTOR  IN  '  UNITED  STATES.   459 

both  labour  and  materials  were  exorbitantly  high ;  in  fact,  where  almost 
everything  but  enterprise  and  gold-dust  were  lacking.  All  else  was 
hurrying  thitherward  on  the  demand  of  these.  Taylor  estimates  that 
the  values  expended  for  materials,  labour,  and  lands  would  have  built 
on  the  Atlantic  coast  a  well-established  and  organised  city  of  100,000 
people.1 

The  constant  stream  of  immigration  brought  every  class  from  every 
land  until  one  could  see  in  the  streets  a  throng  as  "  diverse  and  bizarre 
as  the  houses"  beside  them — Yankees  of  every  possible  variety,  and 
frontiersmen  from  all  over  the  middle  West,  native  Californians,  Chilians, 
Sonorans,  Kanakas,  Chinese,  Malays,  and  scores  of  others  so  browned 
and  grizzled  that  their  nationality  was  unrecognisable.  Such  a  cosmopoli- 
tan population  gathers  in  a  commercial  centre ;  but  it  was  found  here 
before  the  city  became  a  commercial  centre,  and  hence  it  must  be  ascribed 
to  some  other  cause.  Commerce  came  later  when  the  market  was  ready. 
If  the  people  themselves  be  consulted,  they  will  answer  that  they  were 
attracted  by  the  stories  of  the  gold  discoveries. 

Then  the  spirit  or  humour  of  the  people  was  characteristic.  The 
general  excitement,  good  nature,  and  buoyancy  have  been  remarked"  by 
all  writers.  There  was  a  restless  spirit,  too,  in  those  men,  a  bustling, 
energetic  manner ;  energy  to  spare,  a  genius  and  an  adaptability,  rarely 
met  with  elsewhere.  Men  with  little  material  to  do  with  did  what  they 
could.  Their  buildings  were  a  testimony  to  the  use  of  makeshifts.  Men 
were  willing  to  put  up  with  any  convenience  or  inconvenience,  for  the 
sake  of  being  there. 

Prices  and  rents  soared  to  fabulous  heights.  Taylor  2  tells  of  his 
garret-room  beneath  rafters,  with  home-made  chairs  and  bed  frame,  which 
he  shared  with  another  man,  and  for  which  they  paid  825  each  a  week. 
They  paid  820  a  week  for  board.  A  hotel — board  structure,  two  or  three 
stories  high,  and  no  conveniences — let  for  an  aggregate  of  8110,000  per 
annum.  A  canvas  tent,  15  by  25  feet,  used  by  gamblers,  let  for  848,000 
per  annum.  Shinn  3  says  the  Parker  House  in  San  Francisco  cost  830,000 
to  construct,  and  let  for  815,000  a  month.  Labour  cost  810  to  815  per 
diem,  and  some  kinds  even  more.  Trade  in  that  evolving  city  was 
spasmodic.  Merchandise,  becoming  scarce  in  the  abnormally  stimulated 
market,  could  command  fancy  prices ;  then  the  arriving  of  new  stock 
would  often  over-reach  the  demand,  and  prices  might  decline  far  below 
cost.  Of  course,  much  of  this  irregularity  in  the  supply  and  demand 
was  due  to  the  isolation  of  the  place ;  for  gold-mining  was  calling  into 
being  a  city  remote  from  all  else,  but  near  the  miners.  Telegraph,  cables, 
and  telephones  did  not  connect  the  city  with  eastern  markets,  nor  did 
rapid  transportation  bring  new  stock  to  a  depleted  market.  A  stock  of 
merchandise  exhausted  in  any  line  remained  so,  barring  any  chance  arrival 
of  the  article  wanted,  until  word  could  be  carried  to  market  and  the  goods 
returned — three  months  at  a  minimum. 


1  B.  Taylor,  Eldorado,  pp.  203-5. 

2  Ibid.,  1857,  pp.  teetseq. 

3  C.  H.  Shinn,  Mining  Camps,  1885,  p.  138. 


460  SCOTTISH  GEOGRAPHICAL  MAGAZINE. 

While  San  Francisco  was  so  shut  off  from  the  outside  world,  she 
kept  in  close  touch  with  her  subordinates.  With  those  sub-centres  of 
commerce,  supplied  through  the  seaport,  she  was  in  frequent  communi- 
cation by  wagon  and  pack-animal.  Like  other  towns  of.  the  mining 
region,  San  Francisco's  life  and  spirit  pulsated  with  the  life  about  her ; 
and,  while  she  may  have  more  than  kept  pace  with  the  country  in 
material  progress,  she  felt  particularly  the  changes  in  trade  currents  as 
mining  interest  rose  and  fell  in  tributary  districts.1 

And  so  the  city  grew.  Her  hasty  and  flimsy,  but  extravagant  con- 
struction incorporated  much  bad  planning,  from  which  she  suffered 
many  things  later.  Severe  conflagrations  were  so  common  that  the 
sixth  had  occurred  before  the  end  of  June  1851.  Each  time  she  built 
better  and  endeavoured  to  protect  herself  more  adequately.  Municipal 
affairs  could  not  be  organised  fast  enough  to  keep  pace  with  the  needs 
of  the  city ;  hence  the  chaotic  and  corrupt  condition  of  administration 
and  control  may  be  ascribed  to  the  influence  of  gold  within  her  environ- 
ment. The  wave  of  flush  times  formed  an  incentive  to  disorders  due  to 
the  incoming  of  idle  workmen,  and  this  in  turn  called  for  vigilance 
committees.  Change  was  the  order,  both  of  officials  and  of  form  of 
organisation.  Eivalry  and  abuse,  supported  by  strategy,  intrigue,  and 
greed,  succeeded  in  rolling  up  a  city  debt  of  over  a  million  within  the 
year  ending  February  185 1.2 

The  first  six  years  were  a  period  of  herculean  achievement — hills 
were  levelled,  marshes  filled,  streets  paved,  the  sites  of  smouldering 
ruins  were  covered  with  more  substantial  buildings,  and  order  and 
system  were  gradually  evolved  from  the  most  heterogeneous  mixture  of 
humanity  and  organisation  ever  collected  in  so  few  years.  A  commercial 
metropolis  was  formed,  ranking  well  with  the  world's  master  commercial 
centres.  And  all  was  brought  about  against  heavy  odds.  Unscrupulous 
officials,  fires,  lawless  ruffians  and  vigilantes,  debt,  bad  land  titles,  inflated 
land  values,  and  emigration  of  thousands  of  men  to  more  lucrative  fields 
— these  were  her  opponents,  but  she  mastered  them. 

A  crash  in  1853,  on  the  summit  of  the  enormous  inflations  associated 
with  the  maximum  gold  production,  shook  the  civil  and  social  fabric  as 
well  as  the  financial  structure,  but  only  shook  it  together  the  better.  It 
initiated  many  industries ;  miners  entered  farming  of  various  kinds  and 
helped  to  supply  the  city's  needs.  Manufacturing  of  candles  and  furni- 
ture, sugar  refining  and  whisky  distillation,  founding  and  machine 
making,  became  notable  industries  in  the  city.  She  has  grown  and 
incorporated  until  a  few  years  ago  her  population  was  over  350,000,  and 
her  rank  was  easily  the  first  on  this  side  of  the  Pacific.  And  had  it  not 
been  for  her  location  along  a  line  of  earth-crustal  movement,  no  doubt 
she  would  have  maintained  her  leadership.  Her  business,  especially 
commercial  and  manufactural,  is  dependent  to  a  considerable  degree 
upon  the  mining  industry  even  at  present.  Her  commerce,  in  part, 
concerns  itself  with  the  handling  of  imported  mining  supplies,  and  her 

1  H.  H.  Bancroft,  History  .of  California,  1884,  vol.  vii.  p.  682. 

2  Ibid.,  vol.  vi.  pp.  164-220. 


PRECIOUS    METALS   AS   A   GEOGRAPHIC   FACTOR   IN    UNITED    STATES.       461 

manufacturing  with  the  making  of  many  machines,  materials,  foods,  and 
equipment  for  the  mining  industry. 

While  her  present  prosperity  and  national  as  well  as  international 
relations  are  due  to  her  position  and  the  products  of  the  industries 
around  her,  it  must  be  admitted  that  the  development  of  these  industries 
and  the  presence  of  the  city  in  this  generation  are  largely  due  to  the 
stimulation  of  the  gold-mining  industry.  Had  no  gold  been  found  in 
the  vicinity,  there  would  have  been  little  need  as  yet  for  such  a  mart. 

Settlements  and  Towns  remotely  related. — Not  all  camps  or  settlements 
whose  beginnings  may  be  credited  to  the  influence  of  gold  and  silver,  were 
placed  in  the  metal-producing  localities ;  but,  just  as  in  other  great 
migrations  a  few  travellers  turn  aside  from  the  trail  to  make  permanent 
settlements,  so  here  occasionally  fertile  mountain  valleys  and  beautiful 
parks  were  settled  long  before  the  United  States  frontier  in  its  normal 
agricultural  development  could  have  reached  the  position.1  Some  of 
these  were  occupied  by  families,  en  route  for  California,  who  became 
stranded,  others  by  families  whose  enthusiasm  had  brought  them  thus 
far,  but,  becoming  exhausted,  permitted  them  to  make  permanent  settle- 
ments and  to  begin  farming,  grazing,  or  lumbering,  or  all  three,  out  in 
some  charming  but  isolated  locality.  This  halting  sometimes  led  also  to 
the  discovery  of  new  sources  of  wealth,  minerals  of  various  sorts,  or  inter- 
esting crop  possibilities ;  but  this  always  took  place  in  advance  of  the 
general  onward  march  of  the  agricultural  frontier  of  the  West. 

So  far  as  their  relation  to  the  precious  metals  is  concerned,  all  other 
towns  belong  to  one  of  two  types.  The  first  is  that  of  Anaconda,  Pueblo, 
and  Tucson,  with  no  mining  at  all.  These  towns  were  founded  primarily 
for  refining  the  ore,  and  many  of  their  people  work  in  great  ore-smelters. 
Such  towns  are  absolutely  necessary  to  the  progress  of  the  mining  busi- 
ness, because  without  places  near  the  mines  where  the  ore  can  be  reduced, 
the  industry  cannot  be  carried  on.  These  towns  owe  most  of  their 
development  and  present  business  to  their  relation  to  mining. 

The  other  class  consists  of  places,  often  founded  before  the  discoveries 
of  gold,  whose  business  has  come  to  be  in  some  way  tributary  to  mining, 
and  hence  stimulated  by  it.  Such  places  are  Astoria,  Tacoma,  Oakland, 
San  Diego,  Los  Angeles,  Santa  Fe,  Colorado  Springs,  and  many  others. 
It  may  be  said  that  probably  no  city  or  town  west  of  the  105th  meridian 
is  what  it  would  have  been  without  any  gold  or  silver  in  the  West. 
Most  of  them  would  as  yet  have  had  but  little  reason  for  being.  Many 
of  them  were  enormously  stimulated  indirectly  by  the  immigration, 
commerce,  agriculture,  manufactures,  and  railroad  development,  them- 
selves quickened  by  the  presence  and  exploitation  of  gold  and  silver. 

Metamorphosis  of  Towns. — An  interesting  change  of  character  has  taken 
place  in  the  case  of  several  of  these  mining  camps  and  local  commercial 
centres  because  of  the  influence  of  gold  and  silver.  Benicia,  at  the 
mouth  of  the  inner  bay  into  which  the  Sacramento  and  San  Joachin 
rivers  flow,  promised  to  be  the  commercial  centre  of  that  region  ;  but  in 
spite  of  her  many  advantages  of  position,  San  Francisco  received  the 

1  C.  H.  Shinn,  Mining  Camps,  p.  134. 


462  SCOTTISH   GEOGRAPHICAL  MAGAZINE. 

passenger  traffic  when  the  ships  came  in  1849-50,  because  the  latter  wa 
nearer  the  sea  and  most  of  the  vessels  could  not  reach  Benicia.  San 
Francisco  very  soon  outstripped  her  ambitious  rival,  who  humbly  retired 
to  the  rank  of  a  quiet  county  seat.  The  gold  excitement  overruled 
Benicia's  plans,  made  so  quietly  and  securely.  San  Francisco,  a  child  of 
circumstances,  took  the  palm  from  the  city  of  plan  and  design. 

Placerville  and  Eldorado  were  purely  mining  towns.  The  former 
was  famous  under  the  name  of  "  Hangtown,"  and  sustained  the  first  mob 
tribunal  in  1849.  It  was  very  rich  in  1848,  and  increased  in  1849,  but 
soon  after  began  to  sink  because  of  the  failure  of  the  placers,  and  in  1856 
it  had  passed  from  a  rich  flourishing  town  of  brilliant  promise,  through 
abandonment,  fire,  and  flood,  to  rise  again  more  substantially  built,  and 
to  grow  gradually  into  a  staid  agricultural  community  and  a  dignified 
county  seat.  Eldorado  passed  through  a  similar  history  for  the  same 
reasons.  The  mining  canals  of  both  became  irrigation  ditches,  and  their 
wasted  slopes  were  given  over  to  viticulture,  while  the  neighbouring 
fields  passed  under  adequate  tillage. 

Many  towns  rose  quickly  from  camp  to  trade  centre  under  changing 
conditions,  and  as  quickly  melted  to  a  rubbish-heap  when  the  miners  of 
the  locality  heard  of  richer  finds  elsewhere.  Everything  in  the  con- 
struction of  towns  partook  of  the  precarious  and  unstable.  A  thousand 
incalculable  incidents,  usually  styled  luck,  but  growing  out  of  the 
distribution  of  the  precious  metals,  were  constantly  lifting  up  one  town 
and  pulling  down  another,  inflating  this  district  and  impoverishing  that. 
As  the  mining  industry  continues  to  increase,  wood  structures  replace 
the  tents,  brick  or  better  wood  replaces  the  first  wood,  and  the  new-born 
city  thrives  ;  then  the  gold  fails,  and  in  a  week  the  town  of  a  thousand 
people  is  deserted,  perhaps  never  to  be  again  rehabilitated  with  activity, 
perhaps  to  lie  dormant  a  season,  and  then,  because  new  deposits  are 
found,  come  forth  as  some  other  style  of  mining  centre,  or,  because 
irrigation  possibilities  and  soil  resources  have  been  recognised,  as  an 
agricultural  settlement.  Hence  it  is  that  wrecked  towns  as  well  as 
camps  are  exceedingly  common  in  most  of  the  leading  mining  States ; 
and,  further,  it  is  true  that  similar  conditions  are  producing  similar 
results  to-day.  Millions  invested  in  towns,  ditches,  and  appliances,  now 
in  ruins,  have  been  wasted  because  the  actual  distribution  of  the  ore  was 
not  known,  or  because  the  proper  processes  for  its  extraction  had  not 
been  found.  No  accurate  estimate  of  this  loss  can  be  made. 

Monterey,  California,  founded  in  the  year  1770  as  a  Spanish  mission 
and  garrison,  was  the  Spanish  capital  of  the  territory  until  1847,  and 
the  American  capital  from  then  until  after  the  constitutional  convention 
of  1849.  It  was  deserted  for  the  mines  in  1848,  in  spite  of  the  dignity 
recently  acquired,  even  as  was  San  Francisco,  and  both  commercial  San 
Francisco  and  governmental  Monterey  were  temporarily  eclipsed.1 
Taylor  2  predicted  a  great  future  for  the  town,  even  though  its  govern- 
mental supremacy  vanished  with  the  removal  of  the  capital  to  San  Jose\ 

i-H.  H.  Bancroft,  History  of  California,  1884,  vol.  vi.  pp.  63,  64. 
2  B.  Taylor,  Eldorado,  1857,  pp.  140,  141. 


PRECIOUS   METALS    AS    A   GEOGRAPHIC   FACTOR   IN    UNITED   STATES.       463 

But  its  early  start  availed  nothing ;  for  it  was  effectively  cut  off  form 
the  influence  of  gold  and  silver  by  the  Coast  range,  and  no  railroad  has 
yet  reached  it  through  the  mountains,  although  it  has  railroad  connec- 
tions and  outlet  both  north  and  south  between  mountains  and  coast.  In 
1883  it  had  fourteen  hundred  people  and  in  1890  sixteen  hundred.  It 
is  now  no  more  than  a  little  quiet  residence  town  for  a  few  retired  men. 
Influence  on  Place-names. — Names  of  towns  all  through  the  mining 
States  bear  the  marks  of  their  origin  as  mining  camps.  Instead  of  ville, 
city,  burg,  or  ton,  the  affixes  are  camp,  flat,  bar,  beach,  bank,  gulch,  etc. 
Sometimes  the  name  has  the  ordinary  affix  and  a  radical  gold-determined, 
or  it  contains  some  term  for  gold  or  silver,  or  consists  of  something 
strongly  smacking  of  camp-life.  The  following  illustrations  were  selected 
from  small-scale  maps  in  a  school  atlas  and  in  Britannica.  It  may  be 
that  one  or  two  of  these  names  were  given  for  other  reasons  than  the 
influence  of  the  precious  metals,  but  most  of  them  are  certainly  gold- 
derived. 

Angel's  Camp  Goldburg  Silverton 

Happy  Camp  Gold  Hill  Silver  City 

Camp  Grant  Golden  Silver  King 

Chinese  Camp  Gold  Creek  Silver  Bow 

Moor's  Flat  Eichfield  Silver  Plume 

Dutch  Flat  Ophir  Argenta 

Fresno  Flat  Eldorado  Chloride 

Oak  Bar  Oro.  Fino  Telluride 

Eocky  Bar  Oro  Blanco  Eureka 

Washington  Gulch  Oroville  Powderville 

Brown's  Canyon  Placerville  Troublesome 

Cut  Bank  Quartz  Bonanza 

Gold  Beach  Enterprise  Presto 

Goldendale  Silver  Fairplay 

Scores  of  stations,  cross-roads,  and  other  minor  places  proclaim  their 
ancestry  in  their  patronymics.  Xot  only  do  towns  bear  the  royal 
colouring,  but  many  words  in  our  language  have  been  coined  for  special 
mining  terms,  or  incorporated  into  the  language  from  some  other  tongue, 
or  given  special  technical  meanings,  as  results  of  the  gold-  and  silver- 
mining  industry.  Pay-dirt,  prospecting,  hydraulicking,  and  pay-gravel 
illustrate  the  first  type ;  placer,  bonanza,  tye,  and  buddle  the  second ; 
and  torn,  ledge,  show,  colour,  etc.,  the  third. 

Paper  Towns. — City-building  and  town-booming  by  oily-tongued 
agents  early  became  a  business,  and  in  the  speculative  atmosphere  of 
the  West  the  business  grew.  California  suffered  most  in  the  earlier 
days  because  she  was  the  pioneer  as  well  as  the  greatest  gold  producer. 
Bancroft  says  this  State  had  probably  more  paper  towns  than  any  equal 
area  in  the  West.1  The  city-building  craze  possessed  men  most  strongly 
in  1849  and  1850,  after  which  the  symptoms  abated  to  sporadic  cases 
with  occasional  epidemics,  as  in  1863.  "Corner  lot"  speculations  were 

i  H.  H.  Bancroft,  History  of  California,,  1884,  vol.  vi.  p.  443. 


464  SCOTTISH   GEOGRAPHICAL   MAGAZINE. 

common.  Cross-roads,  ferries,  and  even  river-landings  had  their  pro- 
moters who  predicted  their  future  greatness.  Examples  may  be  found 
in  such  paper  fabrics  as  Linda,  Kearney,  Eliza,  Featherton,  and  others 
from  California's  roll.  Idaho  has  suffered  much  in  recent  years  from 
town-lot  agents,  as  well  as  from  spurious  mining  companies  and  un- 
scrupulous stockbrokers. 

Influence  on  Settlement  in  General. — The  discussion  of  towns  and  cities 
must  not  claim  all  our  attention  in  the  consideration  of  the  settlement 
of  the  West,  as  influenced  by  the  precious  metals.  The  chief  business 
prior  to  1849  all  through  these  Western  States  was  trapping  and  fur- 
trading,  a  business  whose  success  and  permanence  depended  on  the 
suppression  of  any  tendency  toward  fixed  settlements  for  the  develop- 
ment of  agriculture  and  grazing.  Hence,  the  occupation  of  these  States 
cannot  be  attributed  to  the  influence  of  that  industry.  Following  it, 
and  discouraging  it  to  a  considerable  extent,  the  mining  industry  spread 
over  the  whole  western  section,  more  actively  and  more  permanently  in 
some  places  than  in  others.  Thus,  mining  the  precious  metals  became 
the  pioneer  industry  throughout  much  of  the  West.  Because  its  ten- 
dency was  to  call  into  being,  as  associates  and  feeders,  agriculture, 
grazing,  lumbering,  manufacturing,  commerce,  and  government,  this 
development  of  mining  resulted  in  settlement  for  other  subsequent 
industries.  The  history  of  settlement  arid  the  development  of  industries 
in  most  of  the  Western  States  is  largely  a  history  of  their  mining 
industry.1 

Colorado  and  California  have  had  the  most  rapid  development,  and 
have  been  in  the  aggregate  the  heaviest  producers.  Nevada  is  the  third 
in  total  output,  but  her  backward  condition  is  due  to  her  lack  of  other 
possible  resources.  It  is  a  marvel  that  even  her  mining  industry  has 
been  able  to  reach  such  dimensions  against  such  odds.  What  would 
her  development  have  been  had  there  been  no  gold-  and  silver-mining  to 
nurse  and  coerce  other  industries  1  And  of  the  other  States,  so  far  as 
settlement  is  concerned,  probably  Washington,  Oregon,  and  Utah  have 
been  least  affected ;  the  two  former,  because  of  moderate  values  and 
limited  development  of  the  ores,  while  settlement  for  other  industries 
has  responded  to  the  general  call  of  progress  and  been  stimulated  by  the 
influence  of  mining  in  neighbouring  States  ;  the  latter,  because  religious 
beliefs  suppressed  mining  for  a  long  time  but  encouraged  settlement 
for  other  occupations,  and  these  were  greatly  aided  by  mining  in  other 
States. 

In  two  ways  the  influence  on  settlement  is  evident.  Tens  of 
thousands  of  men  went  West  to  mine  the  precious  metals,  but  many  of 
them  soon  decided  to  withdraw,  or  were  forced  by  hard  luck,  lack 
of  capital,  or  ill-health,  into  other  occupations.  While  a  large  number 
returned  to  the  East,  thousands  remained  on  the  agricultural  or  grazing 
lands  or  entered  the  forest  as  lumbermen,  while  still  others  entered 
shops,  warehouses,  stores,  offices,  etc.,  aiding  the  general  settlement  and 
development  of  the  country  by  their  presence  and  work.  Further,  the 

i  R.  P.  Porter,  The  West  from  the  Census  0/1880,  1882,  p.  372. 


PRECIOUS    MKTAI.s    AS    A   GEOGRAPHIC   FACTOR   IN   UNITED   STATES.       465 

great  output  of  gold  advertised  the  West  both  in  the  East  and  abroad. 
In  connection  with  gold  stories  went  its  news  of  soils,  crops,  forest,  and 
climate ;  and  bond  fide  settlers,  who  never  intended  to  mine  at  all,  have 
gone  into  all  parts  of  the  West.  Not  only  has  gold-  and  silver-mining 
been  a  pioneer  industry  throughout  the  Western  mountain  States,  but  it 
has  been  a  fundamental  force  in  opening  up  to  settlement  as  much  of  the 
vast  area  as  it  is  desirable  to  settle. 

Effects  on  the  Foreign  Population. — Little  need  be  said  of  the  special 
influence  on  the  foreign  population  of  the  West.  According  to  the 
Twelfth  Census,  foreigners  are  congested  about  Butte,  Montana,  in 
several  places  in  California,  both  in  the  valley  and  on  the  mountain 
slopes,  and  in  scattered  patches  over  both  agricultural  and  mining  lands. 
It  seems  that  with  the  Americans  came  also  others  in  response  to  the 
drawing  power  of  gold ;  but  probably  in  no  greater  proportion  than  they 
came  to  engage  in  other  occupations  open  in  a  new  country.  Certainly 
gold-  and  silver-mines  have  been  no  more  effective  in  settling  foreigners 
in  their  vicinity  than  have  coal-mines,  iron  and  cotton  factories. 
Certain  local  phases  and  one  general  result  of  foreign  settlement  in  the 
West  must  be  noted.  A  large  influx  of  Spanish-Mexicans  occurred  in 
the  early  California  days,  but  it  was  always  second  to  the  pure  American 
immigration  even  then.  The  Sonorans  scattered  all  along  the  Sierra 
valleys,  but  were  not  allowed  to  remain  because  of  their  general  in- 
dolent, unruly  character,  and  their  special  tendency  to  thievishness. 
Their  expulsion  began  well  north,  and  they  settled  again  farther  south ; 
then,  again  becoming  a  nuisance,  they  were  sent  home  in  great  numbers. 
Mexicans  certainly  would  have  been  more  permanent  settlers  in  Cali- 
fornia if  the  treasure  had  never  been  found,  and  no  Americans  brought 
thither  to  oppose  them.  A  second  local  effect  of  the  influence  of  gold 
on  foreigners  is  the  gift  to  the  Pacific  States,  and  notably  to  California, 
of  thousands  of  Chinese.  Many  of  these  cheap  labourers  came  exclusively 
to  dig  gold.  Others  came  to  engage  in  some  of  the  lucrative  subsidiary 
occupations,  such  as  cooking,  laundry  work,  and  farming.  Thousands  are 
engaged  in  agriculture,  horticulture,  fishing,  etc.  They  were  not  usually 
allowed  in  the  mines  or  gravels  with  the  Americans,  so  they  took  up 
abandoned  claims,  and  even  to  the  present  thousands  of  Chinese  are 
laying  up  money  on  the  "worn-out"  claims.1  An  attempt  has  been 
made  to  find  out  if  there  were  any  notable  responses  to  California's  call 
from  gold-  and  silver-mining  regions  in  other  parts  of  the  world,  but 
without  any  result.  Not  one,  but  all  occupations  sent  settlers  to  the 
mining  regions. 

The  general  effects  over  the  entire  area  of  the  mining  States,  of  their 
occupation  upon  an  exceedingly  mixed  and  varied  population,  drawn 
from  all  classes,  creeds,  and  nationalities,  are  apparent.  What  Jordan  2 
said  of  California  as  a  consequence  of  this  cosmopolitan  character  applies, 
though  often  with  less  force,  to  most  of  the  mountain  States.  "It  is 
the  most  cosmopolitan  of  all  the  States  of  the  Union,  and  such  it  will 

1  H.  H.  Bancroft,  History  of  California,  1884,  vol.  vii.  p.  649. 

2  Atlantic  Monthly,  1898. 


466  SCOTTISH   GEOGRAPHICAL   MAGAZINE. 

remain.  Whatever  the  fates  may  bring,  the  people  will  be  tolerant, 
hopeful,  and  adequate,  sure  of  themselves,  masters  of  the  present,  fear- 
less of  the  future."  The  percentage  of  the  foreign  element  is  no  higher 
than  in  other  portions  of  the  United  States,  or  in  other  industries,  but 
the  variety  in  any  locality  is  greater,  and  no  one  element  predominates. 


[Reprinted  from  THE  BULLETIN  OF  THE  GEOGRAPHICAL  SOCIETY  OF  PHILADELPHIA, 
Vol.  X,  No.  I,  January,  1912.] 


THE  INFLUENCE  OF  GOLD  AND  SILVER  MINING  UPON 
THE  CHARACTERS  OF  MEN. 

GEORGE  D.  HUBBARD,  PH.D.1 
OBERLIX  COLLEGE,  OBERLIN,  OHIO. 

The  results  of  the  influence  of  the  precious  metals  upon  the 
character  of  men  are  intangible,  immaterial,  and  evasive.  Many 
factors  have  entered  into  the  character  of  our  Western  men  and 
Western  society  beside  the  influence  of  gold  and  silver  mining;  and 
other  factors  than  gold  are  able  to  produce  some  of  the  results  which 
come  in  response  to  its  influence.  The  oil  craze  is  similar  to  the 
gold  fever.  Other  kinds  of  mining  than  gold  produce  some  of  the 
same  effects,  and  any  frontier  life  develops  some  of  the  character- 
istics found  in  gold  and  silver  miners.  Hence,  it  has  been  extremely 
difficult  and  sometimes  impossible  to  arrive  at  conclusions  that  are 
at  all  trustworthy.  For  these  reasons,  it  will  not  be  surprising  if, 
on  some  points,  the  author  and  reader  part  company. 

The  Gold  Fever. — The  "rush"  has  been  described  as  a  con- 
sequence of  an  excitement  popularly  called  the  "  gold  fever."  This 
mania  captured  all  classes  of  people,  often  making  them  oblivious  of 
duty,  forgetful  of  friends,  and  even  of  self  and  bodily  comforts. 
The  excitement  in  Georgia  in  1829-1830  did  not  last  long  but  was 
extraordinary.  Professor  Silliman2  speaks  of  the  excited  state  of 
men's  minds  and  of  the  speculative  spirit  existing:  and  adds  that 
facts  were  rarely  reported  correctly;  and  the  public  mind,  being 
morbidly  excited,  was  blinded. 

In  California,  the  stories  of  gold  did  not  seem  to  enthuse  the 
people;  but,  when  in  April  the  dazzling  yellow  metal  itself  was 

1  This  paper  is  a  portion  of  a  thesis  presented  as  a  part  of  the  require- 
ment for  the   Ph.D.   degree   in  geography  at  Cornell.     For  other  parts   see 
Bull.  Am.    Geog.   Soc.,   Vol.   XLII    (1910),   pp.    592-602;    also   Vol.   XLIV, 
Feb.,   1912;   Scottish  Geog.  Mag.,   1910,  pp.  449-466,   and    1911,  pp.  417  and 
470;   Bull.  Phil.   Geog.  Society,  Vol.   IX    (1911),  pp.    1-22.     Special  thanks 
are   due   Professors  R.   S.   Tarr,  W.   F.  Willcox   and   H.   Ries,   of   Cornell 
University,   for  criticism   and   suggestion   throughout  the  whole   work. 

2  Am.  Jour.  Sci.,  XXXII  (1836),  p.  98. 

(36) 


37       Influence  of  Gold  and  Silver  Mining  upon  Characters. 

brought  into  the  streets  of  San  Francisco,  the  fever  spread,  and  the 
contagion  swept  through  the  State.3  Merchants  and  their  clerks 
alike  left  the  offices ;  lawyers,  doctors,  and  even  State  officials  went ; 
soldiers  and  policemen  deserted;  whole  ships'  crews  and  officers 
abandoned  their  vessels  when  once  within  the  harbor ;  farmers, 
ministers,  laborers,  and  gamblers  responded.  The  epidemic  knew  no 
social  or  class  lines.  During  the  first  years,  a  kind  of  frenzy  would 
seize  a  community;  and  thousands  would  rush  away  to  some  new 
and  perhaps  distant  locality,  where  many  would  perish  with  disease 
or  hunger,  while  the  remainder  returned  in  poverty  and  rags.  They 
would  leave  localities  of  known  value  to  search  out  a  new  one  with 
no  more  provocation  than  a  newspaper  note.4 

Gold  was  discovered  in  Coeur  d'Alene  placers  of  Northern  Idaho 
in  1883  and  produced  the  same  enthusiasm;  men  surged  in  from 
New  Mexico,  Arizona,  Colorado  and  California;  from  Minnesota, 
Puget  Sound,  Winnipeg,  Assiniboine,  British  Columbia,  and 
Dakota.5  When  masses  of  gold  aggregating  106  pounds  were  found 
near  Bathurst,  Australia,  in  1851,  and  the  news  became  public 
property,  the  greatest  excitement  prevailed.  The  Sydney  Morning 
Herald  of  July  18,  said  "  Bathurst  is  mad  again.  Men  meet 
together,  stare  stupidly  at  each  other  and  talk  incoherent  nonsense. 
The  nerves  of  the  community  at  large  have  received  a  severe  shock." 
It  has  been  the  same  in  Alaska,  Klondyke,  Transvaal  and  West 
Australia,  and  from  the  beginning  of  gold  mining  down  to  the 
present.  Gold  in  veins  is  much  less  effective  than  in  gravel.  Today, 
cooperation  and  the  reduction  of  mining  for  the  precious  metals  to 
an  organized  and  capitalized  business,  remove  the  romance  of  gold 
mining,  and  of  course  cut  off  the  excitement  among  the  miners.6 

It  would  be  quite  unfair  to  turn  from  the  subject  of  gold  fevers 
without  mention  of  the  effects  on  those  left  at  home.  The  enormous 
migrations  of  1849  and  subsequent  years  tore  many  families  asunder, 
leaving  sad  mothers,  sorrowing  wives,  and  neglected  children  witn 
poverty  and  disappointment  to  combat ;  while  he  who  had  gone  for  th 

'Bancroft,  H.  H.,  "History  of  California"  (1884),  Vol.  VI,  p.  58. 

4  Bancroft,  H.  H.,  "  Hist,  of  Mexico,"  Vol.  IV,  p.  702. 

5  Shinn,  C.  H.,  "  Mining  Camps ;  a  Study  in  American  Frontier  Govern- 
ment "  (1885),  P.  255. 

9  World  Today,  Vol.  VIII   (1905),  pp.  178-185. 

(37) 


George  D.  Hubbard.  38 

sometimes  struggled  with  fortune  successfully,  but  frequently  sunk 
discouraged  and  diseased  into  an  unmarked  grave.7 

Effects  on  Health. — While  many  left  at  home  suffered  from 
privation,  the  miner  in  the  field  and  camp,  contended  with  disease 
and  very  often  gave  up  health,  or  even  life  itself,  in  his  eager  search. 
Literally  thousands  were  stricken  down  while  en  route  in  the  desert 
and  mountain  wastes,  thus  depriving  families  of  their  support  and 
society  of  some  of  its  strength.  This  was  because  of  the  distant 
occurrence  of  the  gold  and  lack  of  proper  food,  water  or  shelter. 
The  exposure  to  weather  and  to  cold  and  ague  by  standing  in  cold 
water  at  work;  the  privations  due  to  lack  of  food  and  shelter,  and 
the  irregularities  induced  by  improper  food,  begot  a  whole  crop  of 
maladies,  ague  and  chills,  fever,  dysentery,  scurvy,  pneumonia, 
malaria.  Most  of  these  are  common  in  new  countries,  but  exposure 
and  vicious  mining  methods  so  weakened  constitutions  that  these 
disorders  were  doubly  potent.  Drinking  water  from  some  of  the 
streams  gave  diarrhea  to  99  per  cent  of  the  men.8  Beside  exposure, 
the  mental  strain  of  business  life  told  on  minds,  as  the  insane 
asylums  of  the  early  years  will  bear  abundant  evidence.9 

Character  of  the  Miner. — Certain  virtues  and  vices  seem  to  have 
been  begotten  or  nourished  by  the  conditions  in  gold  mining  camps, 
or  by  the  influence  emanating  from  them.  Self  reliance  developed 
(o)  because  anyone  could  succeed  without  a  superior,  and  no  one 
could  afford  to  hire  help;  (b)  because  one  had  no  time  to  help 
another  so  long  as  the  latter  could  help  himself.  Balancing  this 
independence,  a  fraternal  spirit  appeared,  especially  in  the  beginnings 
in  the  several  fields ;  partly  because  of  the  isolation  from  home  and 
the  East ;  partly  because  of  dependence  for  society  and  for  sympathy 
upon  neighbors.  This  spirit  brought  together  men  differing  greatly 
in  birth,  education,  and  tastes,  and  welded  them  into  something  of  a 
guild,  a  kind  of  free-masonry.10 

Friendships  and  personal  attachments  sprang  up  between  men  of 
very  different  temperament  and  culture,  because  the  conditions  re- 
quired that  they  work  together,  and  gave  them  a  community  of 

T  Bancroft,  H.  H.,  "Hist,  of  Calif./'  Vol.  VI,  pp.  118-119. 
"Taylor,  B.,  "Eldorado"  (1857),  pp.  206-7,  262-3. 
8  Royce,  Josiah,  "  California,"  Am.  Commonwealth  Series,  pp.  392-3. 
10Shinn,  C.  H.,  "Mining  Camps,"  pp.  133-290;  Barry,  T.  A.,  and  Patten, 
B.  A.,  "San  Francisco  in  the  Spring  of  1850"   (1873),  p.  8. 

(38) 


39       Influence  of  Gold  and  Silver  Mining  upo-n  Characters. 

interest  and  risk.  Men  who  crossed  the  land  or  the  sea  in  company 
and  worked  in  a  gulch  together  held  reunions  along  the  Pacific  Coast 
for  many  years.  There  was  a  cordiality  peculiar  to  the  conditions, 
a  jovial  fellowship  which  developed  at  the  expense  of  ordinary 
forms  of  courtesy.11 

Gambling,  drunkenness  and  improvidence  were  the  greatest  vices 
of  the  miners.  Placer  mining  itself  was,  and  is  yet,  a  very  good 
game  of  chance.  It  gave  all  the  excitement  of  the  game  with  the 
charm  of  the  wilderness,  and  often  added  the  novelty  of  a  solitary 
independent  game.12  It  brought  familiarity  with  chance  and  created 
a  desire  to  tempt  luck.  In  the  placer  stages,  gambling  was  mainly 
by  means  of  games  during  the  evening.  It  became  very  intense. 
The  gold  had  come  easily,  and  there  was  plenty  more  where  it  came 
from.  Isolation  from  home  and  relatives  weakened  restraint ;  even- 
ings were  dull,  and  amusements  lacking;  therefore  almost  every- 
one played.  When  the  veins  began  to  be  worked,  the  mining  stocks 
and  corporations  appeared,  speculation  in  part  replaced  the  gaming 
table.  Clerks  and  laborers  as  well  as  merchants  and  other  business 
and  mining  men  whose  daily  occupations  were,  at  best,  dangerously 
near  gambling,  and  whose  nerves  were  constantly  tormented  by 
unnatural  yet,  for  the  time,  inevitable  excitement  and  strain,  entered 
into  the  sport  fully  as  fast  as  their  means  warranted.  Wildest 
speculation  occurred,  and  individual  as  well  as  social  disaster  fol- 
lowed, even  to  the  confusion  of  bankers  and  conservative  Eastern- 
ers.13 Gambling  and  speculation  were  not  peculiar  to  the  gold  and 
silver  mining  industry;  but  they  found  therein  fertile  soil,  because 
of  the  easy  money  at  hand,  the  general  excitement,  the  distance  from 
relatives,  lack  of  restraint,  the  hustle  and  self-absorption,  and  the 
intense  desire  to  get  rich.  Cope14  calls  attention  to  the  waning  of 
the  spirit  of  speculation  throughout  the  West  because  of  the  great 
changes  since  1849  m  the  mining  business.  The  large  concern,  with 
its  capital  invested  in  a  fixed  and  elaborate  plant,  its  ores  of  all 
grades,  and  its  many  mines  consolidated  under  one  immense  organi- 
zation, has  much  less  to  run  chances  upon.  At  present,  mining  and 

11  Taylor,  B.,  "  Eldorado,"  pp.  310  f. 

"Patterson,  R.  H.,  "The  New  Golden  Age"  (1882),  Vol.  I,  p.  253. 

"Royce,  Josiah,  "California,"  pp.  391-3. 

14  World  Today,  Vol.  VIII,  1905,  p.  181. 

(39) 


George  D.  Hubbard.  40 

extraction  partake  largely  of  the  nature  of  a  manufacturing  enter- 
prise. 

Although  drinking  and  drunkenness  are  very  common,  it  is 
doubtful  if  they  are  more  so  than  in  other  kinds  of  mining,  or 
even  in  old  settled  and  established  communities.  The  predominance 
of  men,  the  excitement  and  freedom,  the  abundance  of  wealth,  and 
the  social  good  feeling,  which  have  been  characteristics  of  gold 
mining  districts  all  through  the  West  since  1849,  tend  to  foster  this 
evil.  The  lack  of  restraint  and  the  failure  of  the  civil,  social  and 
religious  organization  to  keep  pace  with  the  rapid  development  under 
the  stimulus  of  the  precious  metals,  make  for  lawlessness  and 
liberty-taking,  so  that  indirectly  gold  and  silver  share  the  responsi- 
bility. But  a  counter  quality  was  developed  in  the  mining  districts. 
Great  popular  interest  in  civic  order  was  taken  by  the  mining  and 
other  population,  because  no  superior  organization  dispensed  that 
article;  and  order  and  security  of  property  were  much  better  than 
would  be  expected,  considering  the  sources  and  heterogeneity  of  the 
people  and  the  conditions  under  which  they  were  living.15 

Extravagance  and  its  offspring,  improvidence,  were  as  natural 
fruits  as  the  conditions  ever  produced.  First,  almost  nothing  could 
be  had  for  ordinary  prices ;  and,  since  one  must  pay  exorbitantly,  he 
felt  that  he  might  as  well  purchase  anything  that  his  pile  could 
compass.  Second,  those  who  had  gold,  had  come  by  it  easily  and 
expected  to  get  much  more  before  going  home.  Third,  there  was 
the  novelty  of  paying  ten  prices  for  an  article  instead  of  one,  coupled 
with  the  ease  with  which  it  could  be  accomplished.  Men  did  not 
realize  in  those  flush  times  and  strange  surroundings,  the  real  cost 
of  things.  A  few,  unused  to  labor,  whose  daily  ounce  or  two  seemed 
a  poor  recompense  for  weary  limb,  sore  muscles  and  flagging 
spirits,  carefully  hoarded  their  gains ;  but  those  whose  lives  had  been 
mostly  of  work  and  privation  (by  far  the  larger  per  cent,  of  the 
miners)  were  open-handed.  Impulse  and  whim  had  free  rein.  Men 
accustomed  to  no  luxuries  beyond  a  good  beef  steak  and  a  glass  of 
whiskey,  now  dined  on  tongue  and  lobster  and  drank  ten  dollar 
champagne.  Oregonians  were  said  to  surpass  all  others  in  dietary 
extravagance.16  Yet  there  were  men  of  culture  in  many  lines  who 

13  Taylor,  B.,  loc.  cit.,  pp.  101,  310-14;  Shinn,  C.  H.,  loc.  cit.,  p.  287. 
16  Taylor,  B.,  loc.  cit.,  pp.  254-7 ;  Shinn,  C.  H.,  loc.  cit.,  p.  139. 

(40) 


41       Influence  of  Gold  and  Silver  Mining  upon  Characters. 

were  careful,  provident  and  regular,  unscathed  by  the  violent  tempta- 
tions to  recklessness. 

The  influence  of  gold  when  taken  from  the  natives  or  mined  by 
oppressive  slavery  in  Mexico  and  South  America,  seems  to  have 
had  quite  an  opposite  effect.  There,  avarice  and  greed  developed 
enormously ;  but  in  the  United  States,  where  every  man  was  his  own 
miner,  and  had  to  lift  the  treasure  by  his  own  strength  or  skill, 
these  qualities  seem  not  to  have  taken  root. 

In  any  study  of  the  personal  character  of  the  miners  of  the  West, 
it  is  necessary  to  take  into  account  the  liberal  variety  of  men  upon 
whom  the  influence  of  the  precious  metals,  with  other  factors,  had 
to  work.  The  miner  came  from  the  North,  the  South,  the  East  and 
West,  from  Europe,  Asia  and  Latin  America,  from  home  and  from 
prison,  from  farm  and  town,  shop  and  ship;  he  was  raw  or  cul- 
tured, ignorant  or  educated,  boisterous  or  gentle,  stupid  or  alert,  red, 
blonde  or  brunette.  All  types  were  cast  together  with  their  multi- 
tudinous personal  differences.  Some  of  these  initial  qualities  were 
lost,  some  were  transformed,  developed  or  dwarfed,  and  new  or 
dormant  qualities  were  brought  out.  Some  of  the  changes  were 
due  to  change  of  environment;  some  due  to  the  frontier  nature  of 
the  region ;  some  directly  due  to  the  influence  of  gold  and  silver,  and 
some  indirectly  traceable  thereto.  And  from  it  all,  there  developed 
a  species — the  typical  Western  miner;  a  variety — the  prospector; 
and  in  general,  a  social  character,  and  a  basis  for  the  present  tone 
and  character  of  the  citizen  and  of  society  in  our  mountainous 
Western  States. 

Following  a  well-recognized  law — man  is  the  product  of  his  own 
environment  into  the  condensed  and  crystallized  effects  of  all  en- 
vironments previously  occupied  by  himself  and  his  race — one  would 
not  expect  all  who  have  had  contact  with  the  production  of  the 
precious  metals  to  be  alike,  but  he  might  feel  confident  that  they 
would  have  certain  common  well-marked  characteristics — a  common 
factor.  After  reading  many  character  sketches,  descriptions  of 
camp  and  western  life,  and  estimates  of  men  and  society  in  the 
West,  the  following  summary  has  been  made,17  embracing  some  of 
the  personal  characteristics  of  miners. 

17  Besides  books  mentioned  in  other  references  in  this  paper  Bret  Hartes' 
stories  and  poems  of  western  life  were  examined ;  also  works  of  Joachin 
Miller,  Josiah  Royce,  and  J.  D.  Whitney  and  others. 

(41) 


George  D.  Hubbard.  42 

1.  Hardy;  because  selected  and  hardened  in  a  severe  life,  out  of 
doors,  subject  to  weather  and  privation. 

2.  Generous ;  because  right  at  hand  were  the  means,  also  the 
opportunity  to  share,  and  many  chances  that  he  too  would  soon  need 
another's  aid. 

3.  Careless  and  reckless ;  because  of  the  chances  constantly  run 
for  success  or  failure,  because  of  association  with  other  gold-cul- 
tivated reckless  characters,  because  of  the  distance  from  home  and 
lack  of  family  ties,  and  because  of  general  excitement. 

4.  Happy  and  hopeful ;  because  of  excitement,  many  chances  of 
success,  constantly  hearing  of  others'  good  fortune,  and  necessity  of 
outdoor  life. 

5.  Brave,  because  only  the  stronger  spirits  started,  and  these  were 
sorted  again  en  route  and  yet  again  continuously  in  the  gulches; 
because  of  isolation  and  vicious  associates  with  no  defence  save  his 
own. 

6.  Self  reliant ;  because  of  ease  of  success  without  aid.     No  one 
had  time  to  seek  or  give  counsel  or  assistance  unless  needed. 

7.  Exuberant  with  life  and  push ;  because  mostly  men,  young  and 
selected,  successful,  hopeful,  and  in  new  untried  conditions. 

8.  Resourceful ;   because    driven   to   it   by   circumstances.     De- 
vices must  be  made,  and  experiments  conducted  to  find  best  adapted 
machines  and  methods. 

9.  Orderly,  and  loyal  to  order;  because  under  the  conditions  he 
could  have  no  order  unless  he  helped  to  make  it ;  and  it  must  be  had, 
if  at  all  possible.     He  demanded  fair  play;  honest  himself,  and 
exacting  justice  and  honesty  in  others. 

10.  Impetuous  and  hasty;  manifested  in  duels,  trials  and  execu- 
tions, and  in  snappy  decisions  on  courses  of  action.     In  the  former 
cases,  a  delay  meant  an  escaped  offender.     There  were  no  prisons 
and  no  time  to  stand  guard.     In  the  latter  case  quick  decisions 
brought  best  results. 

11.  Aptitude  and  adaptability;  power  to  adjust  and  to  grasp 
opportunities.     This  quality  was  specially  nurtured  in  the  mining 
camps  because  of  their  evanescent  nature  and  the  constantly  chang- 
ing  conditions   and   associations.     It   developed   in   individuals   by 
virtue  of  a  natural  selection  process.     He  who  adjusted  himself 
to  new  conditions  had  a  much  better  chance  of  success. 

Rarely  do  wholly  new  traits  of  character  seem  to  have  developed, 

(42) 


43       Influence  of  Gold  and  Silver  Mining  up  cm  Characters. 

but  abnormal  growths  of  certain  qualities  and  dwarfing  of  others, 
thus  producing  an  unsymmetrical  character  are  common.18  Ele- 
ments of  character  most  unlocked  for  would  spring  up  in  a  man 
and  come  to  fruition,  before  his  acquaintances  or  friends  were 
aware  even  of  their  existence.  Men  would  indulge  in  dangerous  or 
frivolous  excesses,  when  they  had  formerly  been  temperate.  They 
would  be  greatly  given  to  drink,  generosity,  talkativeness,  and  jest- 
ing. Taylor  considers  these  excrescences,  "  rank  wild  shoots  slightly 
weakening  the  trunk,  but  signs  of  the  abundant  life." 

The  Speculator. — One  or  two  special  types  of  character  and 
occupation  deserve  special  mention  at  this  point.  When  stocks  and 
companies  came  into  vogue,  and  men  cared  more  for  speculation  in 
stocks  and  properties  than  in  gambling  machines;  the  speculator 
evolved  from  the  proprietor  of  the  gaming  table,  or  he  developed 
from  a  miner  who  saw  riches  in  the  enthusiasm  of  his  fellows.  He 
is  a  product  of  the  printing  press  and  the  credulous  gold  seeker. 
His  whole  business  in  this  connection  has  to  do  with  gold  mines, 
real  or  fictitious,  and  with  a  quality  in  men  called  forth  or  developed 
under  the  influence  of  gold.  He  booms  a  mine,  sells  properties  or 
company  shares,  and  pockets  the  proceeds,  leaving  beautifully  en- 
graved certificates  in  the  hands  of  his  purchasers.  He  is  the 
eloquent  advertiser  of  modern  times ;  one  who  induces  others  to 
speculate  in  gold  mines,  which  have  little  value  outside  their  Broad- 
way offices  and  embossed  certificates.19 

The  Prospector. — The  prospector  is  undoubtedly  the  most  typical 
human  product  of  the  whole  gold  and  silver  mining  business.  Men 
rarely  began  mining  with  the  expectation  of  becoming  professionals, 
but  many  of  the  more  adventurous  found  themselves,  at  the  end 
of  a  year  or  two,  well  within  the  meshes  of  the  web,  and  then, 
unconsciously  perhaps,  surrendered  themselves  to  the  lot  of  a 
prospector.20 

Equipped  with  shovel  and  pan,  blanket,  skillet,  matches,  a  gun 
and  a  knife  or  two,  far  too  careless  of  food  and  personal  comfort, 
utterly  oblivious  to  vicissitudes  of  the  elements,  beyond  the  ken  of 
man  for  months,  roved  the  adventurous,  restless,  professional 
prospector,  dreaming  at  night  of  nuggets  and  heaps  of  gold,  and 

18  Taylor,  B.,  loc.  cit.,  pp.  254-57,  310  f. 

19  World  Today,  Vol.  VIII  (1905),  p.  179. 

20  Patterson,  R.  H.,  loc.  cit.,  Vol.  I,  pp.  239,  253-4. 

(43) 


George  D.  Hubbard.  44 

burning  all  day  with  a  thirst  for  gold  which  gold  only  quickened  and 
never  quenched.  He  lived  on  wild  game,  berries  and  anything  pro- 
curable, paid  little  attention  to  health,  sought  solitude  and  seclusion, 
was  worth  his  thousands  one  day  and  nothing  the  next,  usually  a 
keen  observer,  grizzled,  poorly  clad,  brave,  hardy  and  careless. 

The  prospector  was  the  advance  guard  of  the  miner.  He  wan- 
dered away  from  the  camp,  up  ravines  and  over  divides,  picked  at 
the  gravel  here  and  there,  washing  a  bit  in  his  shovel  or  pan,  then 
peering  in  for  "  color,"  the  measure  of  his  success.  Thus  he  passed 
the  snowy  mountains,  and  crossed  the  burning  plains,  becoming 
nomadic,  moving  on  unverified  report,  and  circulating  news  of  his 
various  finds.  Unless  the  prowling  Indian,  dysentery  or  starvation 
accomplished  the  deed  too  soon,  old  age  crept  in  and  took  him 
unawares,  and  his  wasted  body  or  bleached  bones  were  left  to  mark 
some  lonely  gulch  or  sentry  hill.  His  hoarded  dust  in  leathern  bag 
sometimes  revealed  his  business,  when  regathered  by  another  solitary 
prospector  who  happened  by  the  deserted  wealth.21 

His  type  is  a  minor  element  in  the  exploitation  and  development 
of  the  West  today.  He  works  alone,  unguided  and,  in  the  main, 
unfollowed,  unless  in  the  employ  of  some  great  concern  where  both 
he  and  the  mining  expert  contribute  to  the  expansion  of  the  enter- 
prise.22 

Effects  on  Western  Business  and  Social  Life. — Many  personal 
qualities  of  the  miners  discussed  above  were  so  common  as  to  be 
more  or  less  crystallized  in  society,  and  others  still  more  universal 
aided  in  giving  the  characteristic  tone  to  western  society.  Royce 
points  out  that  in  the  early  days  there  was  in  California  a  blindness 
to  social  duties  and  an  indifference  to  the  rights  of  certain  foreign- 
ers.23 This  latter  was  noticeable  concerning  the  Mexican  "  greaser  " 
and  the  Chinaman.  The  all-absorbing  personal  ambition  to  acquire 
gold,  and  the  carelessness,  overhastiness  and  extravagant  confidence 
in  luck,  which  seems  to  be  largely  gold-born,  were  certainly  in  great 
measure  accountable  for  this  early  lack  of  the  normally  very  prom- 
inent pioneer  characteristics,  thrift,  sociability,  promotion  of  the 

21  Patterson,  R.  H.,  loc.  cit.,  Vol.  I,  p.  245 ;  Bancroft,  H.  H.,  "  Hist,  of 
Calif.,"  Vol.  VI,  pp.  385,  390,  391. 

*  World  Today,  Vol.  VIII  (1905),  P-  181. 
23  Royce,  Josiah,  "California,"  p.  2. 

(44) 


45       Influence  of  Gold  and  Silver  Mining  upon  Characters. 

social  organization,  and  affiliation  with  everyone  in  the  community, 
even  though  his  nationality,  or  skin,  be  of  different  kind. 

Later,  men  becoming  aware  of  social  obligations  took  up  with  the 
usual  zest  and  energy  the  task  of  building  a  well-organized,  perma- 
nent and  progressive  society  and  State.  In  many  parts  of  the 
West,  the  first  few  years  witnessed  the  conditions  noted  in  Cali- 
fornia, and  later  years  have  seen  a  similar  change. 

Peculiar  business  methods  grew  up  and  flourished  in  California 
during  the  first  few  years  of  her  Golden  Age.  Extraordinary 
abundance  of  metal  made  it  possible  to  pay  all  debts  punctually,  and 
a  public  spirit  unfolded  which  was  opposed  to  slackness.24  Men 
were  forced  to  have  business  confidence  in  each  other.  Business 
was  transacted  on  a  large  scale,  and  the  market  was  so  absolutely 
sure  that  the  ordinary  solicitation  and  attempt  to  reduce  the  price 
were  almost  entirely  forgotten.  The  merchant  became  indifferent 
as  to  whether  the  customer  purchased  or  not;  he  was  sure  of  a 
speedy  sale  anyway.  And  the  customer  bought  if  he  approved  the 
price,  or  really  wanted  the  goods;  if  not,  he  went  away.  Usually 
he  paid  the  price  without  a  word.  So  flush  were  the  coffers  that 
men  loaned  money  without  security  and  many  times  without  even  a 
note,  suffering  little  or  no  loss. 

These  general  conditions  continued  for  ten  years,  until  business 
began  to  settle  into  more  secure  routine.  Then  those  who  continued 
to  display  the  same  indifference  to  purchasers  or  to  loan  without 
note  and  security  were  forced  to  the  wall.  Competition  rose;  the 
transient  regime  entirely  disappeared ;  and  with  its  removal  many  a 
business  man,  failing  to  adjust  with  sufficient  alacrity  to  the  new 
conditions,  went  into  bankruptcy.  Much  of  the  same  results  were 
found  in  Australia  during  the  period  of  great  abundance,  and  were 
followed  by  similar  subsequent  change. 

Beside  these  abnormalities  in  trade,  many  writers  mention  an 
exuberance  in  everything,  which  manifested  itself  not  a  little  in  busi- 
ness and  enterprise.  Men  were  possessed  of  a  spirit  of  hustle,  due, 
in  part  at  least,  to  success  and  to  the  bountiful  resources  and  ample 
opportunity.25  Caution  and  prudence  seem  to  have  been  thrown  to 
the  wind,  and  yet  men  prospered.  This  spirit  was  propagated 

24 Taylor,  B.,  "Eldorado,"  pp.  59-60. 

25 Bancroft,  H.  H.,  "Hist.  Calif.,"  Vol.  VI,  p.  225;  Taylor,  B.,  "Eldo- 
rado," pp.  310-314. 

(45) 


George  D.  Hubbard,  46 

wherever  the  new  gold  went,  and  there  resulted  a  quickening  of 
enterprise,  an  intensifying  of  prosperity,  an  augmented  productivity 
until  Hume26  remarks  "  In  every  kingdom  into  which  money  begins 
to  flow  in  greater  abundance  than  formerly,  everything  takes  on  a 
new  face.  Labor  and  industry  gain  life,  the  merchant  becomes  more 
enterprising,  the  manufacturer  more  diligent  and  skilful,  and  even 
the  farmer  follows  his  plough  with  greater  alacrity  and  attention/'27 
Increased  gold  and  silver  production  seems  to  be  not  only  a  local 
stimulant  but  a  universal  industrial  tonic,  vivifying  enterprise  as  far 
as  it  goes. 

A  characteristic  quality  of  Western  society  has  been  its  lack  of 
rank,  its  democratic  equalization.  Taylor  predicts  that  California 
will  be  the  most  democratic  country  in  the  world.  This  democracy 
was  due  to  a  number  of  conditions.  ( I )  The  richest  never  came  to 
California  nor  to  the  other  mining  regions,  and  the  poorer  could  not 
come,  so  the  financially  determined  social  range  from  the  start  was 
less  than  in  the  East.  (2)  Those  who  came  all  worked,  worked 
side  by  side,  and  at  the  same  or  similar  occupations.  (3)  None 
could  afford  to  hire  or  be  hired.  (4)  Where  riches  lay  so  near  the 
surface,  they  conferred  little  advantage. 

In  the  course  of  time,  as  mining  methods  have  changed,  finan- 
cially determined  social  rank  has  arisen.  There  are  laborers  and 
capitalists  in  two  well-established  classes.  This  distinction  could 
not  well  have  come  in  an  agricultural  pioneer  community.  It  is 
little  known  in  new  countries  other  than  those  mining  gold.  In  the 
East,  property  plays  a  part  in  social  organization,  but  position, 
scholarship  and  culture  are  stronger  factors.  It  is  no  wonder, 
however,  that  in  the  West  and  especially  in  California,  many  of  the 
citizens  know  no  aristocracy  save  that  based  on  wealth,  and  that 
by  many  the  clergyman  or  professor  is  not  to  be  considered  eligible 
to  the  best  society  unless  backed  by  his  gold.  Oregon  and  Wash- 
ington, less  important  as  mining  States,  seem  to  feel  this  distinction 
less. 

Gold  and  silver  mining  brings  men  closer  together  physically  and 
thus  creates  links  of  town-life  and  society.28  In  spite  of  the  strong 

28  Hume,  D.,  "  Political  Discoveries,"  2d  edition,  p.  47. 

27  Stirling,   P.  J.,  "  Gold  Discoveries  and  Their  Probable  Consequences " 


(1853),  PP.  256-7. 

^Shinn,  C.  H.,  loc.  cit.,  p.  227. 


(46) 


47       Influence  of  Gold  and  Silver  Mining  up&n  Characters. 

individualistic  spirit  in  mining  communities,  there  is  a  real  charity 
and  a  healthy  fraternalism  not  known  or  possible  in  other  kinds  of 
frontier  life. 

The  Camp  as  an  Organizing  Force. — As  an  organizing  force, 
mining-camp  society  is  one  of  the  strongest  and  quickest  to  act. 
This  has  been  shown  in  the  case  of  court  organization,  and  was 
specially  marked  in  the  massing  of  men  in  orderly  concourse  to 
discuss  and  carry  into  effect  district  organization.  Popular  dis- 
cussion was  a  right  of  miners,  growing  as  naturally  out  of  their 
environment  as  did  equal  mining  rights;  and  assembling  with 
startling  energy  and  swiftness  for  effective  consolidation  was  as 
much  to  be  expected  as  hasty  trial  and  execution.  The  miner  saw 
the  need  of  order,  because  he  was  removed  from  its  protection ;  and, 
under  the  tremendous  pressure  of  local  demand  for  unification  of  all 
forces,  he  became  bound  to  his  fellows  by  common  interests  into  a 
social  compact  owing  allegiance  to  no  higher  authority.  The  evolu- 
tion of  social  community  when  begun  was  much  more  rapid  under 
the  influence  of  gold  than  it  could  have  been  among  a  more  staid 
and  less  mobile  populace.29 

In  discussing  the  characteristics  of  men  in  mining  regions,  Shinn, 
writing  in  1884,  remarks  that  they  are  a  class  peculiarly  ready  to 
assemble  for  free  discussion,  to  have  debates,  to  start  arguments  and 
to  listen  to  stump  speeches.30  The  early  training  of  miners'  courts 
and  of  camp  life  have  left  their  impress  upon  the  people  of  the 
mining  regions.  Compared  with  the  people  of  the  valley  engaged 
in  other  occupations,  they  bear  relations  similar  to  those  born  by 
Tennessee  mountaineers  to  the  valley  dwellers  of  the  same  vicinity. 
But  these  mining  mountaineers  compared  with  the  ordinary  moun- 
tain dweller,  have  a  closer  organization,  a  more  constant  habit  of 
seeking  each  other's  counsel,  of  meeting  in  assembly,  and  of  openly 
discussing  local  and  general  affairs. 

Spread  of  Camp  Spirit. — The  mining  camp  spreads  its  influence 
with  the  wanderings  of  prospector  and  miner.  It  was  as  much  a 
unit  and  centralizing  force  in  the  West  as  the  town  in  New  England, 
and  the  plantation  in  the  South,  and  fully  as  much  a  product  of  the 
environment.  Institutionally,  it  underlies  the  Western  common- 
wealth; intellectually  and  socially,  it  represents  a  colonial  era;  but 

29  Shinn,  C.  H.,  loc.  cit.,  p.  135;  Taylor,  B.,  loc.  cit.,  pp.  310-14. 
80  Shinn,  C.  H.,  loc.  cit.,  pp.  226-7. 

(47) 


George  D.  Hubbard.  48 

in  both  respects,  it  is  a  type  not  found  in  merely  agricultural  or 
pastoral  development,  but  belongs  to  the  production  of  the  precious 
metals.  Not  only  has  the  camp  and  mining  district  life  given  its 
strength,  energy  and  manners  to  western  society,  but  it  has  already 
passed  as  a  powerful  force  into  the  very  fiber  of  the  social  fabric 
throughout  the  western  mining  States.  Men  and  women  trained 
in  that  atmosphere  are  in  control  of  the  departments  of  state  and 
local  government,  are  leaders  in  society,  and  while  the  whole  organi- 
zation of  state  and  society  is  similar  to  that  in  the  East,  its  move- 
ments are  quicker,  its  pulse  healthier,  and  its  jurisprudence  more 
primitive,  its  spirit  of  unity  stronger  and  tone  more  democratic. 

Oregon  has  the  name  both  at  home  and  among  its  neighbors  of 
being  the  least  progressive  of  all  the  coast  states,  although  it  was  one 
of  the  earliest  occupied,  having  its  permanent  settlements  before  the 
California  gold  discoveries.  May  this  not  be  in  large  measure  due 
to  its  lack  of  gold  and  silver  mining  and  of  contact  with  mining  life? 
A  comparison  of  Seattle,  Portland  and  San  Francisco  is  also  strik- 
ing. We  have  seen  the  character  of  the  latter.  Seattle  is  said  by 
travellers  to  resemble  Chicago  in  its  hustle  and  push.  Portland  is 
much  less  active.  It  is  an  agricultural  market  but  has  little  contact 
with  gold  mining,  while  Seattle  has,  besides  agricultural  and  lumber 
marketing,  an  extensive  business  in  outfitting  Alaskan  and  Klondyke 
miners. 

Effects  on  Other  Institutions. — In  the  beginnings  of  the  develop- 
ment of  the  various  districts,  certain  institutions  were  slow  of 
growth  because  neglected  for  the  Western  summum  bonum — gold. 
Perhaps  the  slowest  was  the  church  and  with  it  religious  life.  All 
writers  pay  a  tribute  to  the  miners  when  they  speak  of  their  rever- 
ence for  religion,  their  emotions  and  responses  in  cases  of  births  and 
natural  deaths.  Probably  much  of  this  feeling  toward  spiritual 
things  was  due  to  the  scarcity  of  church  and  religious  influence, 
which  in  turn  was  a  product  of  the  conditions.  Certain  institutions 
must  reach  a  community  last,  and  these  will  be  determined  by  the 
relative  importance  attached  to  them  by  the  members  of  each  com- 
munity. Naturally,  where  the  material  interests  were  so  clamorous 
for  attention,  their  importance  was  magnified  to  the  detriment  of 
the  spiritual. 

It  is  also  common  testimony  that  the  Westerner  today  has  a  very 
high  regard  for  and  interest  in  the  church,  religion  and  education. 

(48) 


49       Influence  of  Gold  and  Silver  Mining  upon  Characters. 

Probably  this  is  a  development  of  the  earlier  feelings,  coupled  with 
an  increased  desire  to  have  for  his  youth  what  the  exigencies  of  the 
times  forbade  him  to  enjoy. 

On  Literature. — Books,  articles  and  stories  in  considerable  num- 
bers have  sprung  from  the  Western  conditions,  but  as  yet  there  is 
little  that  can  take  rank  as  literature.  A  swarm  of  little,  cheap,  and 
often  loud  books  by  persons  who  had  spent  "  three  weeks  "  to  "  six 
months"  in  the  gulches  came  up  as  spontaneously  as  mushrooms 
after  a  June  shower. 

The  scientific  literature  is  no  small  item.  Thousands  of  pages 
along  many  lines,  geologic,  petrographic,  chemical,  mining  and  engi- 
neering have  been  published  in  books  and  journals.  Many  volumes 
of  more  or  less  technical  reports  annually  appear.  Much  of  the 
western  fiction  is  gold  inspired.  In  the  gulches  was  found  not  only 
the  pioneer  conditions  attractive  to  all  readers  but  also  a  romantic, 
novel  background  set  with  gold  nuggets,  pious  gamblers,  forgotten 
forty-niners,  tricky  Mexicans,  Indian  outlaws  and  rescued  innocents, 
all  possible  and  all  thrilling.  A  thousand  stories  such  as  those  by 
Bret  Harte  illustrate  the  spirit  of  the  times.  Cincinnatus  H.  Miller 
(Joaquin  Miller)  in  his  poems  has  depicted  the  mountain  scenery, 
open-air  life,  and  freedom,  often  lawless,  of  mining  days ;  and  other 
lesser  men  have  written,  yet  the  total  is  but  meager. 

The  great  mining  West  has  a  treasure  house  brimful  in  her 
romance  and  history;  an  inspiration  in  her  scenery  for  the  outdoor 
poet ;  a  theme  for  the  dramatist  in  the  vivid  life  scenes  of  the  over- 
land routes,  her  mining  camps  and  forests ;  a  sublime  symphony  for 
the  deft  fingers  of  the  artist  to  express  in  music  of  poetry,  song, 
or  story : 

The  masters  of  these  themes  will  be  products  of  the  environ- 
ment. They  will  grow  up  in  the  grandeur  and  vastness  of  those 
majestic  mountains  and  profound  valleys,  opened  to  the  world  by 
the  far-reaching  influence  of  the  metallic  treasure  in  their  hearts 
and  mantles.  Men  of  spirit  and  strength  have  already  written,  but 
the  best  from  this  virile,  exuberant  and  cosmopolitan  people,  in  a 
new  and  varied  country,  is  yet  to  come. 

The  Commingling  of  Races. — As  already  shown,  under  the  influ- 
ence of  gold  and  silver  there  were  drawn  to  the  West  and  especially 
to  California,  all  nationalities  and  conditions  of  society.  The  mass 
of  population  was  most  heterogeneous  and  unpropitious,  yet  there 

(49) 


George  D.  Hubbard.  50 

"  is  growing  up  "  says  Taylor,  "  harmony  beyond  the  most  sanguine 
hopes."31  This  resultant,  save  some  very  local  foreign  examples,  the 
most  cosmopolitan  of  all  societies,  was  not  alone  due  to  the  variety 
of  its  ingredients.  Commingling  races  and  interbedding  social 
strata,  coupled  with  primitive  and  similar  modes  of  life  for  all ;  the 
most  perfect  mixing  process  carried  on  by  means  of  characteristic 
rushes ;  the  common  risk  and  responsibility,  have  all  collaborated  to 
produce  the  finished  product — Western  cosmopolitan  society.  Much 
of  the  virility  and  enterprise  in  California  is  a  consequence  of  the 
complexity  of  population  and  its  complete  mixing.  And  by  the  same 
means,  the  citizens,  facing  the  awakening  Orient,  were  prepared  to 
enter  broad  world  relations. 

jrorld-ivide  Results. — There  were  broader  social  effects,  re- 
sponses to  the  influence  of  gold  and  silver  in  the  Far  West.  The 
gold  seeker's  emigration  from  all  the  world  was  socially  a  disturb- 
ing influence  touching  the  spirit  of  the  times  in  many  lands.  The 
discoveries  and  exploitation  of  treasure  called  forth  hordes  from 
quiet,  steady  civilizations,  relieving  congestion,  quickening  markets 
and  reviving  life,  thought  and  action.  There  was  a  loss  from  many 
lands  and  communities  of  capital  and  strong  arms,  to  a  new,  wild, 
and  untried  country. 

Society  in  the  aggregate  suffered  by  loss  of  moral  restraint  in- 
cident on  mining  life,  and  the  consequent  vice,  crime  and  bloodshed, 
gambling  and  thriftlessness,  and  the  partial  loss  of  mental  equi- 
librium. And  so  the  subtle  influence  of  a  very  potent  element  goes 
on  permeating,  enthusing,  restraining,  inducing,  discouraging  and 
cheering,  and  all  the  time  preparing  the  way  for  speedy  emergence 
of  the  Great  West  in  its  strength  and  integrity. 

31  Taylor,  B.,  "  Eldorado,"  pp.  101  f. 


(50) 


THE 


VOLUME  X  JUNE,  1912  NUMBER  10 

THE  PRECIOUS  METALS  AS  A  GEOGRAPHIC  FACTOR  IN  THE 
DEVELOPMENT  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES* 

A  Summary  by  GEORGE  D.  HUBBARD, 
Oberlin  College,  Oberlin,  Ohio 

IX  the  preparation  of  this  dissertation,  the  purpose  has  been  to  set  forth 
the  evidence  and  the  extent  of  the  geographic  influence  of  the  precious 
metals  in  the  development  of  the  United  States.  If  undue  emphasis  has 
seemingly  been  given  to  the  geographic  influences,  it  may  be  simply  because 
all  other  classes  of  influences  and  their  effects  have  been  disregarded  for  the 
time.  This  lack  of  attention  to  economic,  social  and  other  forces  has  not 
been  through  a  lack  of  appreciation  of  their  importance  or  a  desire  to  de- 
tract from  their  interest,  but  because  of  the  purpose  to  make  clear  and  to 
emphasize  the  influence  of  gold  and  silver  growing  out  of  their  geographic 
distribution  and  geographic  associations  and  relations. 

Care  has  been  taken  to  pursue  the  investigation  along  each  line  as  far 
as  the  evidence  will  allow;  and  caution  has  been  used  to  prevent  drawing 
unwarranted  conclusions.  The  facts  that  various  other  causes  produce  simi- 
lar results,  and  that  several  causes  operate  together  to  bring  about  a  single 
result  have  often  complicated  the  problem.  After  certain  results  have  been 
noted,  an  examination  of  other  classes  of  influence  —  economic,  social,  re- 
ligious, historic,  and  racial  —  has  been  made  to  determine  which  cause  has 
been  'effective,  or  which  should  be  considered  more  important.  Occasional- 
ly, in  testing  the  power  of  the  influence  of  any  set  of  conditions,  or  the  de- 
gree of  the  responses  to  them,  it  has  been  found  helpful  to  suppose  changed 
conditions,  and  note  results.  This  device  cannot  be  considered  final,  because 
one  is  never  sure  what  would  happen  under  Irvpothetical  conditions  ;  nor  can 
he  be  certain  that  he  has  taken  cognizance  of  all  conditions. 

*Under  this  general  title  there  have  appeared  a  series  of  articles  dealing 
with  several  phases  of  the  question.  Together  they  constitute  the  thesis  pre- 
sented by  the  author  to  Cornell  University  for  the  degree  of  Doctor  of  Philoso- 
phy. The  papers  may  be  found  as  follows: 

Scott.  Geog.  Mag.  Vol.  XXVI  (1910)  pp.  449-466. 

Bull    Amer.  Geog.  Soc.  Vol.  XLII   (1910)  pp.  594-602. 

Scott.  Geog.  Mag.  Vol.  XXVII   (1911)   pp.  417-26,  470-74. 

Bull.  Phil.  Geog.  Soc.  Vol.  IX  (1911)  pp.  1-22. 

Bull.  Phil.  Geog.  Soc.  Vol.  X   (1912)   pp.  36-50. 

Bull.  Amer.  Geog.  Soc.  Vol.  XLIV  (1912)  pp.  97-112. 


An  attempt  has  been  made  to  discover  the  essential  principle  in  each 
case,  because  items  alone  are  of  little  value  except  as  they  lead,  or  point  to, 
or  illustrate  the  principle.  Some  of  the  principles  deduced  in  the  study  may 
be  set  forth  as  follows : — 

Mining  processes  have  responded  to  the  character  of  the  ore  and  the 
nature  of  the  geographic  environment.  In  so  far  as  the  methods  of  mining 
and  reduction,  and  the  apparatus  used,  are  adapted  to  the  requirements  of 
the  ores  and  the  conditions,  they  are  successful;  while  a  failure  to  conform 
is  the  signal  for  their  defeat  and  disuse. 

Spanish  exploration  and  conquest  were  impelled  and  directed  largely 
by  the  desire  for  treasure,  and  the  scattering  of  the  Spanish  in  search  for 
it  was  a  cause  for  their  undoing;  while  English  exploration  and  posses- 
sion was  not  much  affected  by  the  presence  of  gold  and  silver  within  the 
territory  which  was  left.  Gold  in  California  and  other  Western  States  has 
led  both  directly  and  indirectly  to  their  exploration;  and  by  this  means 
not  only  have  precious  metals  been  discovered  and  possessed,  but  many 
other  and  more  valuable  resources  have  been  found,  and  extensive  scientific 
exploration  has  been  carried  on. 

Spanish  migration  and  settlement  were  largely  for  the  purpose  of 
acquiring  the  discovered  gold  and  silver-  The  quest  led  them  to  wander  all 
over  South  and  Central  America;  however,  during  the  early  centuries  they 
established  but  few  organized  agricultural  settlements;  hence  their  foot- 
hold on  American  soil  was  not  permanent.  The  great  exodus  in  1849 
and  following,  from  the  Atlantic  Coasts,  both  European  and  American, 
was  a  tremendous  wave  of  migration,  and  was  impelled  by  the  glamor  and 
presence  of  gold  in  our  West.  The  working  out  of  the  routes,  the  sustain- 
ing of  hardships  and  the  distribution  of  the  people  were  in  part  responses 
to  the  influence  of  gold  and  silver;  and  these  responses  were  what  they  were, 
because  the  precious  metals  were  where  they  were.  Many  local  migrations 
and  minor  effects  on  the  people  accrue  to  the  influence  of  the  metals. 

The  position,  size  and  shape  of  camps  as  well  as  their  character,  are  re- 
sponses to  the  presence  and  distribution  of  the  ores.  Besides  camps,  com- 
mercial and  outfitting  towns,  and  later,  extensive  milling  towns  arose  in  re- 
sponse to  the  need  for  such  settlements.  Many  other  towns,  less  closely  re- 
lated to  the  industry,  were  stimulated  by  the  presence  and  production  of 
gold  and  silver.  Most,  if  not  all,  Western  towns  are  other  than  they  would 
have  been  had  the  metals  not  been  in  their  States.  And,  further,  this  in- 
dustry will  continue  to  influence  towns  as  long  as  its  extensive  operation 
continues.  Old  towns,  now  active,  will  decline  and  new  ones  arise,  as  de- 
posits become  exhausted,  and  new  ones  are  found. 

Metallurgical  and  all  reduction  processes,  as  well  as  the  mining  itself, 
use  the  products  of  other  industries;  hence,  manufacturies  of  shovels,  min- 


ing  machinery,  milling  apparatus,  and  chemicals  required  in  the  processes 
are  all  more  or  less  stimulated.  Further,  the  products  of  gold  and  silver 
mining  contribute  to  other  industries,  and  have  thereby  encouraged  the 
manufacture  of  jewelry  and  many  works  of  art  as  well  as  of  coin.  Agricult- 
ure, first  hindered,  has  been  greatly  aided;  all  means  of  transportation 
have  been  called  into  use  in  one  place  or  another,  and  their  facilities  de- 
veloped far  in  advance  of  the  stage  they  would  otherwise  have  reached 
in  the  West.  Education  in  mining,  chemistry,  and  metallurgy,  as  well  as 
in  the  making  of  mining  machinery,  has  been  greatly  stimulated. 

The  industry  of  gold  and  silver  mining  and  reduction  has  called  into 
existence,  in  the  West,  volumes  of  laws  and  cases,  covering  the  various  kinds 
of  mining  and  mining  claims,  and  controversies  arising  from  the  clashing 
of  opinions  or  misunderstandings  concerning  them.  Local  laws  vary  as  do 
local  geographic  conditions-  Many  camp  laws  and  regulations  were  some- 
what generalized  and  carried  up  to  district,  county,  and  even  to  state  codes, 
until  the  constitutions  of  most  of  the  mining  states  have  sections  or 
articles  relating  to  mining. 

Eegions  containing  extensive  mining  camps  and,  consequently,  having 
a  considerable  population  were  organized  into  small  counties,  while  terri- 
tory possessing  little  or  no  mining  was  later  lumped  into  large  counties. 
Questions  of  national  policy  and  conduct  in  the  West  have  been  hurried  to 
crises  by  the  presence  and  development  of  the  ores.  International  relations 
have  been  strained  by  conditions  arising,  under  the  influence  of  the  metals, 
and  consequent  agreements  have  been  entered  into. 

Early  Spanish  trade  was  encouraged  and  modified  by  the  use  of  the  gold 
that  the  traders  found.  Local  prices  in  mining  regions  rose,  and  through 
their  stimulating  effect,  commerce  or  prices,  in  all  countries  contributing 
goods  to  the  regions,  responded;  and,  thus,  the  new  metal  aided  greatly  in 
the  commercial  and  industrial  expansion,  struggling  for  expression  in  the 
middle  of  the  last  century. 

Men's  characters,  under  the  feverish  excitement  of  the  early  mining 
days,  were  strengthened  in  the  directions  of  independence  of  thought  and 
action,  mutual  helpfulness,  business  alertness  and  resourcefulness.  Power 
to  resist  extravagance  and  improvidence  seems  to  have  been  weakened.  De- 
sire to  wander,  speculate,  and  gamble  increased.  Exuberance  of  life  and 
spirit,  .joyousiiess  and  good  feeling  were  developed.  Former  characters  were 
abnormally  and  unsymmetrically  developed.  Health  was  impair- 
ed. Distinct  types  of  character  were  found  in  the  case  of  the  speculator 
and  prospector.  Business,  society  and  literature  of  the  West  have  been 
colored  markedly  by  the  presence  and  abundance  of  the  precious  metals, 
until  social  tone  and  the  Westerner's  attitude  toward  various  institutions 
is,  in  part,  a  response  to  the  influence.  World-wide  social  effects  are  found 


in  the  distributing  and  quickening  influences  of  the  miner's  emigration,,  in 
the  loss  to  society  of.  strength  and  restraint  incident  on  mining  life,,  and 
in  the  enlargement  of  knowledge  and  extension  of  vision  felt  in  every 
nation  of  the  earth  permeated  by  the  subtle  influence  of  the  precious 
metals. 


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